Kiss Me While I Sleep
by itanejiluver
Summary: A series of drabbles based on the deviant art picture called 'kiss me while i am sleeping'. it's the cover image for the story . Some drabbles will be AU, some will be set in the naruto universe. All will be non-Uchiha massacre. Random boys x neji. Yaoi. Full of fluff. Disclaimer on my profile.
1. Resting shikaneji

art/Neji-Kiss-Me-While-I-am-Sleep-94901905

**a/n: **I saw this picture on deviantart and I decided to write some drabbles/one-shots about it…some will be AU, some will be set in the naruto universe. All will be non-Uchiha massacre. Random boys x neji. Yaoi.

Drabble 001: Resting.

Shikamaru paused at the most unusual sight in front of him.

And all this time, he'd really thought that Hyuga Neji never slept. Shikamaru snorted; of course Neji slept, what was he thinking?

…Right. It was Hyuga Neji he was talking about.

Without thinking he reached out and cupped the boy's face with his hand. Leaning down, he brushed a soft kiss over his lips before straightening up again.

After all, even prodigies needed a rest once in a while…Shikamaru smirked.

Didn't he know that best of all?


	2. Timeout itaneji

**a/n: **Itaneji, chibi drabble. I'm basing the titles off of synonyms for "resting", so while this one doesn't have much to do with that, I couldn't resist

Drabble 002: Time-out

Neji was running across the park with his best friend in hot pursuit. He stopped, gasping for breath and laughing.

"Time-out!" he squeaked just before Itachi barreled in to him, tackling him to the ground. Neji giggled and batted at Itachi's hands, trying to get him to get off.

"You're it!" Itachi proclaimed triumphantly.

"Nuh-uh!" Neji shot back. "I called time-out before you got me, so there!"

Itachi smiled, and then got off Neji before offering the five year old a hand up. "Let's go play on the swings. You're tired of running, aren't you?"

Neji eyed him suspiciously. "How'd you know?"

The seven year old smirked down at him. "You don't call time-out when we play tag until you get tired," he said matter-of-factly. "Come on, let's go play on the swings instead; I'll push you so you don't get tired."

Neji thought about it for a minute. "'kay!" the little chibi chirped. He reached for Itachi's hand. "Let's go play on the swings."

~x~

Itachi smiled down at his sleeping husband before gently letting his hand go. Neji had spent the whole day watching Lee and Sakura's children, and when he'd walked in to the apartment, he'd just sort of fallen down on to the couch face-first and had instantly fallen asleep with a small smile on his face.

Itachi leaned down and kissed his lover's forehead, and then headed in to another room to kindly inform Sakura to go find someone else for her babysitter. The challenge of maintaining one's sanity in the presence of two children of two of the most exuberant people in Konoha was not one he was willing to let his Neji take on.

**a/n:** If you couldn't tell, the chibi bit was neji's dream…PM for requests and ideas!


	3. cat nap peinneji

a/n: Chibi Neji with cat ears is too cute to pass up! Crack pairing and just…crack.

Drabble 003: Cat-nap.

Neji yawned, and stretched his back before reaching up to smooth his brown ears with a slender hand.

Yes, Neji was not entirely human…He was a cat lycanthrope, but he when he was born, he was bespelled so that whenever he took his human form he still kept his cat ears and his tail. Other cat lycanthropes like him were commonly sold as slaves to rich families after being kidnapped from their parents and enspelled at birth.

Luckily, Neji had a good master. He purred when he felt a calloused hand reach out and stroke his ears before he curled up and went back to sleep.

Pein looked down at his 'pet' before settling down next to him on the couch and closing his eyes. Dealing with Tobi always gave him a headache. He could certainly use a little cat-nap too. He pulled Neji on top of him and lay down on the couch before pressing a quick kiss to his neck.

Neji was one of the many secrets he kept from the Akatsuki. There was no way that he was going to let Tobi find out that he had a cat; he'd never hear the end of it…Pein shuddered as he imagined Tobi if he could play with his cat.

No way in hell. This little kitty was his.

a/n: PM me for ideas and requests!


	4. Drowiness itaneji

**a/n: ** Itaneji fluff. Does anyone else get that sleepy feeling when the weather is hot? I certainly do!

Drabble 004: Drowsiness.

The sun beat down on the desert, and Neji felt an overwhelming surge of gratefulness for the tent he was hiding under with his mission partner.

Itachi lay on his back on the floor of the tent and yawned. "How are you even awake right now? Whenever it gets this hot, I always feel like taking a nap."

Neji struggled not to smile; Itachi's affinity for naps was yet another odd quirk about the Uchiha prodigy.

"If you're so tired, then sleep," he murmured while looking over their mission report. They had been sent to make a delivery to Sunagakure; thankfully, they hadn't encountered any trouble as of yet. They were due to arrive in Konoha tomorrow; Neji couldn't wait to finally see some greenery.

"But if I sleep, who'll keep you safe?"

Neji looked over at Itachi in surprise, only to find Itachi looking straight back at him.

After a pause, he let out a breath and smiled before walking over to the bedroll and flopping down next to him.

"Go to sleep," he said softly. "I'll be safe in your arms."

Itachi looked at him for a moment before snorting softly and pulling him over. "Idiot."

Neji just smiled a little bit and snuggled in to Itachi's chest.

Ino was wrong; Neji certainly had a sweet side, particularly when it came to Itachi.

**a/n**: I thought that this setting would be good for these two, so there you have it! You all thought it would be Neji and someone from suna didn't you? Sorry to disappoint y'alls…maybe next time. R/R!


	5. restless itaneji

**a/n**: Sorry, I've been a bit uninspired for these drabbles, and this was an attempt to start things back up again. The title is a bit more subtle this time…Disclaimer on my profile. I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura (otherwise the bit where Yuki and Toya got together would be in the manga) and no warnings. I know, it's another itaneji drabble, but…they're just so darn cute! (And their pairing needs more love. Who said anything about being realistic?)

Drabble 005: Restless; itaneji.

Neji groaned and he reached over in an attempt to turn off his alarm clock.

To his annoyance, he couldn't seem to find it. Finally, in a surge of irritation, he sat up and glared around the room…

Only for the light's to snap on and nearly blind him.

Neji shielded his eyes and didn't even bother trying to rival the glare Itachi sent his way. "What was _that_ for?"

Itachi smirked. "…you wanted to get up early so that we could catch our flight to Spain on time?"

Neji blinked, and then fell backward with a groan. Oh god, the trip to Spain. It would have been fine if it was just him and Itachi, but _no._ Both the head families of the Hyuga and the head family of the Uchiha were going in an attempt to get to know each other better, ever since the two families had been joined by Neji's and Itachi's marriage.

It was going to be a nightmare.

"We could feign a sudden illness," Neji mumbled with his eyes closed. "We could…"

Itachi sighed and sat down next to him on the bed. "Believe me, koi, I don't want to do this either, but if we don't go everyone will be upset. After all, this is because of us."

Neji opened an eye and stared at him before sitting up. "I know. Believe me, I know." He leaned over and gave Itachi an apology kiss. "Sorry for complaining. You're unbelievably stressed as it is." He gave him another apology kiss.

Itachi pulled back and smiled tiredly at him. "It's alright. I've been up since one in the morning anyways, so-"

Neji cut him off. "Itachi, you went to bed at ten last night with the plan for sleeping for eight hours and then getting up at six."

Itachi shifted guiltily. "I couldn't sleep; anyways, I'll just sleep on the plane."

Neji patted his knee and got off the bed. "I'm driving if you only got three hours of sleep."

Itachi followed him obediently. "Ok."

Neji got dressed quickly, downed a cup of coffee and a bagel before throwing their bags in the trunk. He got in the car with Itachi, but hesitated to start the engine.

"Um…"

Itachi forced his eyelids open. "What's the matter?"

"Do…do you really think they've accepted _us_? I mean…you know what happened…" Neji frowned as he remembered the disastrous reaction his family had when Itachi had proposed to him. His uncle had ignored him for nearly a year until he had an about face and was suddenly insistent on being part of their family about two months ago. Itachi's mother and brother had been remarkably understanding, and Fugaku had been a bit stiff, but…with his uncle ignoring him, no one had been able to talk to Neji until his sudden change of heart. It had been a heart-breaking experience.

Itachi smiled. "You've seen how your uncle is around us now," he murmured as he closed his eyes again. "And your cousins have been dying to see you. Don't worry…everything will surely be alright."

Neji smiled slightly at the reference to the manga that had garnered their first meeting. "Right. Everything…will surely be alright." He started the engine and headed for the airport.

Itachi was out like a log all the way to the airport.

**a/n**: And there you have it! I know that this plot bunny is kinda old, but it just popped up and I decided to use it. I also tried to make Neji less uke-ish this time…Anyways, please vote on the poll on my profile! Anyways, R/R! Hm…I'm considering doing a prequel for this drabble in particular. Would you guys want it? Let me know! I might make it a oneshot…we'll see!


	6. Liedown

**a/n**: I tried really hard to come up with a title related to the drabble but it's not too great. Sorry! :( Anyways…no warnings other than psycho-gaara. Disclaimer on my profile. Non-AU…sorta.

Drabble 006: Lie-down

Gaara scowled. It was the month of training before the final chunin tournament, and he was _bored._

He couldn't sleep unless he wanted to be possessed by the tailed-beast residing inside of him, and since it was the middle of the night, most of the training grounds in Konoha were closed and there was no one amusing to test his skills against.

So, since he was bored and there was nothing to do, Gaara decided to go on a walk. Maybe there were some open training grounds that he'd missed.

Gaara raised a non-existent eyebrow when he saw the gate to one of the swinging open. He instantly headed over, ready to shove anyone else who was heading there away.

To his surprise, no one seemed to be in the training ground…until he looked over at the roots of the giant tree growing near the west end.

There was a boy, with long brown hair who seemed to have fallen asleep in between the roots of the great tree. Gaara vaguely remembered him from the chunin exams…oh yes, he was the boy who had nearly killed his cousin.

Well, it didn't matter who he was because he was going to leave soon. Gaara strode over and kicked the boy in the side. "Hey, you!"

The boy winced away and opened his eyes before sitting bolt upright. "What the hell do you want? I'm Neji," he added as an afterthought. Neji's heart was going a mile a minute; oh god, it was Gaara Subaku. He'd only meant to have a brief lie-down before heading back to the compound and now he was going to _die _just because he'd decided to take a nap-

Gaara's voice cut through his panicked daze. "Get out of the training ground."

Neji breathed a sigh of relief; he wasn't going to be killed after all. He got up and jogged towards the entrance to the training compound…

Only for a wall of sand to appear in front of him just as he was about to step outside.

"If you wanted me gone so much, why are you stopping me now?" he called light-heartedly while turning around.

Gaara frowned and moved forward, causing Neji to take a step back in to the sand. "Your eyes," he said in a strangled voice. "Your eyes…" suddenly, his expression darkened. "Your eyes _annoy me_," he hissed. "Get lost."

The wall of sand behind Neji vanished, and he didn't hesitate to sprint through the entrance and back towards the Hyuga compound.

Lord, that little boy was _terrifying._

Meanwhile, Gaara sat down and thought about Neji's eyes. They'd reminded him of something…something irritating. But then again, everything was irritating these days.

Suddenly, he remembered. Neji's eyes reminded him of that woman's necklace he'd seen at a trip up to the government with his father.

Gaara smiled slowly at the memory of blood spattering across the shining diamonds and pearls.

He hoped he would have a chance to be able to paint those silver eyes a far more pleasing color later.

**a/n**: It didn't really end with them together, but this idea of an encounter between the two sort of popped in to my head so I gave it a go. Tell me what you think! (And I'm pretty sure that Gaara didn't stay in Konoha during the month-long time period between the final exam, but consider it to be mildly AU or whatever floats your boat.)


	7. Immortal rest shikanejihidan

**a/n:** And here's another drabble…Shikaneji and mild Hidanneji. This one is kind of weird, but I'm mildly uninspired since school just start and I got flooded with homework…but don't worry! I'll keep updating these drabbles as best I can. Disclaimer on my profile, Warnings: Um…just Hidan and the state of his body in the pit. It's not too much. Enjoy!

Drabble 007: Immortal rest, Shikanejihidan

Neji gripped Shikamaru's hand tightly as they wended their way through the Nara estate. "This sure is a big forest."

Shikamaru frowned as he carefully picked his way through a mass of roots. "Yes, well. If you didn't want to come, you shouldn't have asked."

Neji rushed to placate his friend. "Oh no, it's not that, Shika. It's big in a good sort of way. You know me; I try not to complain too much."

Shikamaru grunted, and Neji winced. He knew that the topic of Asuma's death was still rather touchy for his boyfriend, but honestly…Shikamaru had been the one who had asked him to go check up with him on Hidan's pit, but he was acting as if Neji was _forcing _him to go along.

Shikamaru tugged on his hand. "We're here."

Neji raised an eyebrow at Shikamaru's sharp tone. "I remember the way back if you don't want to keep going."

Shikamaru shook his head. "I'll be waiting for you about halfway down." Neji nodded and started to move forward while Shikamaru vanished in to the forest behind him.

Neji bowed politely to the two deer sentinels at the pit before cautiously moving forward. The deer let him pass, but watched him intently.

Neji crouched down at the edge and peered down cautiously.

"You're not the deer boy."

Neji bit back a yelp and stared down at the bloody mess at the bottom of the pit. "Y-you…how can you still_ talk_?"

"Where's deer boy?" the severed head repeated.

"None of your business!" Neji snapped back, annoyed at how easily he'd been startled.

"Fine, then who're you? A stranger here to see my bloody demise?" Neji watched with morbid fascination as Hidan's crushed arm moved limply.

"…If that's what you want."

"No, it's not really what I want. Say, what are the chances of you coming down here and piecing me back together?"

Neji stood up swiftly and backed away from the edge. "None. Absolutely none!"

Hidan laughed heartily. "Aw, did I scare you? You aren't a shinobi, are you?"

Neji swallowed hard and cautiously crept forward to the edge again, but remained silent. Hidan took his silence as a negative and continued onward. "You're pretty, you know that? Why don't you come down here and gimme a kiss, hm?"

Neji pressed his lips together and remained silent, shaking his head.

Hidan cackled. "No? Then what're you here for?"

Neji snorted softly before standing up. "An idiot like you never stood a chance against Shikamaru."

"Aw, sweetheart, don't be like that," Hidan whined. "Come on, just one kiss-"

"Good-bye, Hidan. I hope we never meet again." Neji stood up and walked away from the pit towards the deer sentinels.

Hidan's voice rose from the pit. "You going to tell me your name, pretty?"

"Neji." Neji responded flatly. "And if Shikamaru has told you anything, and he has because he told me he talks to you, then you should realize that I'm _Shikamaru's boyfriend_, scum." Neji pulled the apple from his pocket and tossed it to the two deer before hurrying away from the pit.

"Creep," he muttered, shivering softly. The deer sentinels gave him knowing looks before turning back to their apples.

Hidan sighed back in his dreary, dismal pit of doom. Why was it that the first person he felt inclined to sleep with happened to be his enemy's boyfriend? He really had horrible luck.

"Fuck," he muttered. As if scolding him for his language, an apple core fell in to the pit and landed smack dab on his nose.

Hidan sighed. Fortune really wasn't on his side these days.

**a/n**: And…that's this one! Dun-dun-dun dun! I hope you liked it! Don't forget to vote on the profile poll for what pairings you guys would like to see next :) R/R, and thanks for all your support and reviews. Also, check out 'love at first sight'; it's a prequel to drabble 5. Over and out!


	8. wink of sleep kibaneji

**a/n:** Hey everybody! And I present to you…a kibaneji drabble! This one's kinda cute, but there are some things you need to know…

First off, Kiba and Neji are both juniors. Secondly, they've been friends for some time, and thirdly, during that time a mutual attraction has built up between them.

Enjoy! Disclaimer on my profile.

Drabble 008: Wink of sleep. Kibaneji.

Kiba strolled through the friendly little forest behind the local high school when he saw Hyuga Neji lying on his back with his eyes closed, facing up towards the sky in the shadows of a small, friendly little copse near the back of the school.

Kiba snuck closer, fascinated; Neji's usual face was expressionless with a slight glare if he didn't like you, and seeing his face open and content in sleep was a once in a lifetime occurrence.

Neji glanced up at the intruder through slitted eyes. "The hell do you want, Inuzuka?"

"Oh my god, don't do that!" Kiba clutched his chest. He really hadn't expected the Hyuga to say anything…after all, he'd thought he was asleep. _Wow, he really is good-looking…_

"Kiba."Neji smiled slightly when Kiba stopped talking and simply stared at him. So far, so good.

"What?" Kiba stopped hyperventilating and looked down at Neji.

"What do you want?"

"Oh…nothing." Kiba chuckled nervously. "I was just surprised to see you sleeping out here."

"Yes well, I'm only human aren't I? Don't I deserve a few winks of sleep before class starts up again?" Neji pouted.

"And what were you doing last night that you didn't get any sleep?"

Neji shifted and turned away so that Kiba couldn't see the small smile on his face. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Oh ho ho ho!" Kiba crowed. "So you got laid, huh?"

Neji opened his eyes and sat up at that. "The f***? No!"

"Then what were you doing?" Kiba asked in a sing-song voice.

"…I was training Hinata in jyuuken technique," Neji dead-panned. "You thought I got laid? Does your mind process anything besides your animals, sex, or drinking?"

"Hey, chill man. I didn't mean anything by it," Kiba raised his hands defensively. "So…what are you doing right now?"

"I am waiting for you to go away so that I can get some sleep," Neji snapped half-heartedly. He really didn't want Kiba to go away. Neji smirked; the other teen was so predictable.

Kiba laughed and Neji smirked again when he plopped down next to him on the grass. "Well, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

Neji didn't waste the opportunity to lean over and kiss him.

To his disappointment, Kiba only let him kiss him for a few seconds before pushing him away. "What the hell, Hyuga?"

"What?" Neji asked defensively. "Don't tell me you're as thick as you seem, Kiba. You must've realized that I liked you somewhere along the three years we've been friends."

"That's not helping you any," Kiba shot back, "and what the heck? You think you can just kiss me out of nowhere-"

Neji leaned over again and shoved Kiba to the ground before kissing him again. After they broke up apart, Neji grinned smugly down at him. "I s'pose I can."

Kiba responded by flipping the positions. "You're not getting the upper hand here, Neji."

Neji's heart did a little flip when Kiba called him that. "…Ball's in your court, Kiba. What next?"

Kiba pinned Neji's wrists to the ground right next to his face before leaning down and kissing his neck. "I wouldn't mind-"

The boys were interrupted by the sound of someone pointedly clearing their throat.

Kiba froze, and Neji swore mentally. _Damn it Uncle, you couldn't have waited for five more minutes?_

Hyuga Hiashi strode of and kicked Kiba off his nephew before dragging Neji away by the elbow. Neji winked cutely at Kiba before catching up with his uncle and pulling his arm away before beginning to argue in a low voice while Kiba stood back in the little copse feeling rather dazed.

It was only then that Kiba realized Neji had left the jacket he'd been using as a pillow in the little copse.

A grin slowly unfurled across his face as he bent down to scoop it up before lifting it up to his face and inhaling Neji's scent deeply.

He wouldn't waste this opportunity to go see Neji at his house. Kiba grimaced after a moment; hopefully, he could also make a better impression on Hyuga Hiashi the second time around as well.

**a/n**: Yay, another romantic drabble! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed-reviews are appreciated and feel free to request pairings in reviews that you'd like to see, or go vote on the poll. (Thank you to my singular voter on the poll-I'm working on a naruneji plot bunny right now, but it's taking some time. Don't worry; it well get out eventually though!) Also, I do realize that I stereotyped Kiba a bit in this drabble but it's the first time I've ever tried writing him so please forgive me. Anyways, hope you enjoyed and see ya next drabble!


	9. dozing off kibaneji

**a/n**: Sorry about not bringing a new drabble last week; my school year just started and I'm still figuring out how to balance homework and personal time. Anyways, this drabble is a continuation of 'one eye open'. Don't forget to review, vote on the poll for the next pairing, and take a look at 'love at first sight'. (Please review that story-I'd like some feedback if you read it.) Enjoy!

Warnings: Neji and Kiba discuss having sex but don't really do anything. Disclaimer on my profile. Just overall cuteness.

Drabble 009: Dozing off, kibaneji

Note: continuation of 'one eye open'.

Kiba stood outside of Neji's house for a moment, debating, before he hopped over the fence and snuck in to their back yard.

He frowned as he tried to remember…which window had Neji said was his? Oh, right, the top window, first one from the right!

Kiba searched on the ground for a few moments before flinging a rock at the window. He really wished he didn't have to see Neji like this but when he'd come by to drop of Neji's jacket, Hiashi had given him the evil eye and told him that if he ever saw him touching Neji again, he would personally murder him.

Kiba grinned when the light flicked on and Neji's face appeared at the window. He waved up at him.

Neji responded by opening the window and calling out to him.

"It's alright-Uncle's away on a business trip, and Hinata and Hanabi are over at my aunt's house. Let me go open the back door for you." Kiba blinked in surprise, but waited until Neji slid the screen door open and let Kiba inside.

"Are you alright? Did my uncle threaten you?" Neji shut the door and motioned for Kiba to take off his shoes. "It's just me in the house…Uncle's flight doesn't land until two in the morning."

"He left you home alone?"

Neji smiled wryly. "I've done it before. Anyways…why are you here?"

Kiba smiled pleasantly. "I wanted to see you."

"You could have waited until tomorrow morning. Do you want tea or something?"

"No thanks. And I can't see you with your uncle around, can I?"

"So he did threaten you," Neji muttered under his breath. "Typical." Neji headed upstairs and Kiba followed him obediently.

"…You have a nice house."

"Thank you. This is my room, by the way." Neji went in to one of the open doors on the second floor and sat down on his bed. "Are you sure you're not hungry?"

Kiba smirked and moved forward so that he was looming over Neji. "Hungry for you," he purred.

"_Kiba_," Neji said exasperated. "Do you really…do you really think that I only kissed you because I want to sleep with you?"

Kiba smirked. "No," he grinned. "It would just be a huge plus to having a delicious looking boyfriend."

Neji blushed. "Idiot," he muttered. "I don't want to have sex with you right now. We haven't even gone out on a date yet."

"All those times we went out to lunch and hung out at the library don't count?"

"We haven't had a date as a real couple," Neji countered. "If you want though…we…"

Kiba waved a hand. "I actually wasn't referring to that when I said I was hungry for you. I just…wanted to be near you."

Neji raised an eyebrow. "At midnight?"

Kiba grinned. "Why not?"

Neji sighed before flopping on to the bed. "Well, you're here, it's late, and I'm tired. You can sleep next to me if you want."

"What happened to 'we haven't even been on our first date yet'?"

"There's nothing wrong with a bit of cuddling." Neji looked over his shoulder at Kiba and raised an eyebrow. "Are you getting in or not?"

"Fine, fine," Kiba muttered comically. He did have to admit that Neji's body was warm and soft, and that his face was very cute when he was sleeping. Despite his many reassurances to Kiba that he wouldn't actually fall asleep, Neji had ended up curling up like a cat in Kiba's arms and nestling his head on his shoulder and had promptly dozed off.

It was now two in the morning, and Kiba wasn't taking any chances. He gently disentangled himself from Neji before leaning down and brushing his lips over Neji's sleeping eyes.

Then, he ran like hell, not wanting to get caught by Hiashi Hyuga visiting his nephew late in to the depths of the night.

**a/n**: I hope you liked it! Please review, and feel free to check out my new story. (It's not going to be posted til Monday…oops. Don't worry; I should have an update for drabbles every week or so in addition to the story 'Thousand Furs'.) Thanks for reading and see ya next drabble!


	10. rude awakening sasunejishika

Drabble 010: Rude awakening, Sasunejishika

**a/n**:

Hey y'alls. This is a shikaneji drabble, but Sasuke just happens to be mildly important to the plot. Disclaimer on my profile, no warnings…enjoy! AU.

Neji darted out from the Hyuga compound and hit the busy streets of Konoha, anxiously glancing over his shoulder. He was running away from his paranoid uncle who was sure that Neji was going to elope with someone before college, and Neji had no intentions of humiliating himself in front of the entire main branch in the compound. Hence, he was running so that he could move the scene to a more _private_ section of Konoha. As in, the surrounding forest where no one would hear his crazy uncle except for some deer.

He was so panicked, he wasn't looking where he was going until-

"Oi! Watch where you're going Hyuga!"

Neji stifled a shriek of terror, only to realize that it was Sasuke who was yelling at him. "Sorry."

Sasuke fumed. "You just squished all of my groceries, bastard!" _Especially the tomatoes! Why the god damned tomatoes?_

Neji sighed and picked up the grocery bag lying on the ground before checking the contents. "None of your groceries are particularly damaged, Uchiha. Now, if you'll excuse me-"

"I'm not _excusing you_ Neji. Buy me tomatoes, since you squished them while you were carelessly running around without looking where you were going!"

Neji glanced behind him and blanched at the sight of his Uncle searching the street for him. "Can I give you a rain check on that? I'm in a hurry." Without waiting for a reply, he promptly ran down the street, leaving Sasuke fuming, and his uncle hot on his tail.

XXX

A week later, Sasuke opened his door to find a paper bag with tomatoes in it and a note from Neji.

_Sorry about crashing in to you that time. I hope this makes up for it._

_-Hyuga Neji-_

Sasuke paused as he wondered why Neji had been running in the first place. Shrugging, he went inside to wash the tomatoes.

Meanwhile, Neji was cuddling with Shikamaru on his bed when he heard someone running towards the room. He barely had any time to stuff the sleepily confused Nara in to the closet before his Uncle burst through the door.

"Uncle, you'll have to replace that door again-"

"What were you doing at Uchiha Sasuke's apartment an hour ago?"

Neji blinked, and then understood. "Uncle, I'm not…ugh. I damaged his groceries last week, so I was dropping off an apology gift."

"That's all?"

"Yes."

Hiashi Hyuga deflated with relief and patted Neji's head before leaving the room with a comforted expression on his face.

The moment he was gone, Neji pulled Shikamaru out of the closet and pressed an apology kiss to his forehead before lying back down on the bed again.

Shikamaru lay down next to him and propped his chin up on the palm of his hand. "You know, we _are_ going to have to tell your uncle that we're dating, eventually."

Neji grimaced and sighed. "Troublesome."

**a/n**: Wasn't that cute? Anyways, hope y'all enjoyed…don't forget to review!


	11. nightmare naruneji

**a/n**: Hey everybody! It's getting harder to successfully incorporate the sleep theme, so this has essentially turned in to a drabble collection…oh well…Anyways, I _finally_ had a plotbunny for naruneji! At last!

Drabble 011: Nightmare, Naruneji.

Naruto jogged toward the Hokage tower; all of the genin were helping with the aftermath of the Suna and Oto attacks after the chunin exams, and Naruto had just completed a task for the Hokage.

He paused; his eyes widened at the sight before him.

Hinata and Neji were walking side by side, and it actually appeared as if they were getting along _well_. Hinata was smile nervously, and Neji wasn't glaring for once.

Naruto waved energetically. "Hinata-chan! Neji!" he shouted.

Neji winced, and suddenly his glare was back on. Hinata stumbled, and blushed slightly before timidly waving back. "Naruto-kun!"

Naruto ran towards them haphazardly. Just before he reached them though, Naruto tripped over a stone on the road. Hinata gasped and moved forward to stop him, but it was already too late.

Naruto tripped forward and crashed in to Neji.

Hinata squeaked and knelt down next to her cousin who was obviously trying to reign in his temper. "A-are you alright, Neji nii-san?"

Neji shoved Naruto off of him. "Fine," he grumbled, glaring daggers at Naruto. He wiped his lips in a disgusted gesture and stalked off.

"Oh dear," Hinata murmured worriedly. Then, she paused, curious. "Naruto-kun, why did Neji nii-san wipe his mouth?"

Naruto stared after Neji dazed for a moment, before he started shrieking. "Why were my first two kisses stolen boys?! Why me?! Why me?!" he sobbed dramatically in to his arms while Hinata stared at him uncomprehendingly.

"N-naruto-kun. I'm sure it will be alright-"

Naruto sobbed. "I'm scarred for life! I'm only thirteen years old and I've already been kissed by two guys!" suddenly, he brightened up and leapt to his feet. "Although, I have to admit that kiss was a lot better than that kiss I had with Sasuke way back when. Anyways, see ya, Hinata!" Naruto zoomed off towards the Hokage's office leaving a very perplexed Hinata in the dust.

Meanwhile, Neji stood in a quiet street corner, patiently waiting for his cousin.

Neji shuddered; he couldn't believe that he'd just kissed a complete idiot. Was idiocy contagious? Could it be passed on through kissing?

Neji sat bolt upright in bed, sweating and nervous. Oh god, idiocy couldn't be transferred through kisses, could it? Neji leapt out of bed, pulled some clothes on and ran for the training grounds, determined to chase his nightmare away.

Unbeknownst to him, a figure with spiky blonde hair rolled over in bed with his eyes wide open, staring up at the ceiling.

Naruto sighed dreamily and closed his eyes before promptly falling back asleep. _What a nice dream…_

**a/n**: Did you like it? I know it doesn't end up with them together, but I thought it was cute. Don't forget to review, take the poll and check out my other stories :) See ya next drabble!


	12. Slumbering Insecurities gaaneji

**A/n**: Thank you for all you lovely reviews!

At last…a real gaaneji pairing where they actually get together! This borders on more of a short oneshot rather than a drabble, but I hope you find it enjoyable. If you haven't reached the arc where people start talking about the Fourth Shinobi world war in Naruto yet, then there are some extremely minor spoilers involving Neji's position in the Konoha troops. If you don't want to know, I guess you don't have to read…it's not very important in the manga, though, so it doesn't really matter.

**Minor Spoiler Alert:** Also, in the anime Neji was appointed as the clan member who would lead the Hyuga in to battle. This is relatively non-AU, warnings: implied sex, and Neji being antisocial. Disclaimer on my profile.

Enjoy!

Drabble 012: Slumbering Insecurities, Gaaneji

Neji moved through the masses of the tents through the base of the Shinobi Alliance as he made his way back to the Hyuga delegation.

Even though his uncle had appointed him as the leader of the Hyuga in to battle, there was still quite a bit of resistance. In his family, people had slowly gotten used to his status as a 'prodigy' but even now his family continued to hold their petty arguments and prejudices against him even at the start of the war. Neji could only hope that no lives would be lost because of their foolish actions.

Just as Neji passed by the Kage's tent, a young man with a gourd strapped to his back slipped outside.

Neji bowed in greeting. "Kazekage-sama."

Gaara viewed him curiously; he vaguely remembered Neji from the Chunin exams, and he'd seen him several times on diplomatic excursions to Konoha.

"Hyuga Neji, am I right?"

"Yes, sir."

"You are the leader of the Hyuga despite your familial status," Gaara remembered suddenly. Tsunade had been worrying about cooperation within her troops.

"That is correct." Neji looked at him impassively. _Will even the Kazekage judge me based on the curse seal?_

Even in the darkness of oncoming night, Gaara could see the flash of despair in Neji's eyes. "I am not judging you, Hyuga." Gaara abruptly coughed in to his hand and gestured towards the mass of tents before them. "Would you mind if I accompany you to the Hyuga quarters?"

_Why does he want to come with me? _"Not at all." They started off through the labyrinth of shelters in silence.

Neji reached the entrance of his tent and held back a sigh of relief; they had simply walked in an awkward silence the whole time. "Thank you for your time, Kazekage-sama."

"One moment, Neji-san."

Neji glanced around, and was rather surprised that they were alone. "Yes, Kazekage-sama?"

"Are you frightened for tomorrow?"

Neji scoffed. "We are on the brink of the Fourth Shinobi World War. Who would not be frightened?"

Gaara moved forward, and Neji found himself captivated by those jade green eyes. "…Do not be frightened, Hyuga. Rather, be wary and raise the morale of your clan."

Neji's raised his chin somewhat defiantly. "Thank you for your guidance."

They stood at an impasse of jade green against sparkling diamond. At last, Neji gave in and his eyes fell to the ground. In a rare moment of shyness, Neji hid his face behind his bangs before peeking up again, only to find Gaara's face millimeters from his own.

Their lips brushed in what could barely be called a kiss. Neji gasped, stuttered out an apology and then promptly fled in to his tent while Gaara watched in amusement.

Later that night, Gaara jerked in surprise when he heard the entrance of his tent shift before cautiously drawing his sand around him. Everyone had gone to bed in order to rest well for tomorrow. Who could possibly come calling near midnight?

To his surprise, Hyuga Neji stepped through the entrance with an unreadable expression on his face.

Gaara blinked, before indicating to Neji that he could sit down. "Did you have trouble sleeping?"

"Yes. I came here, thinking you would be the only person who was still awake."

"Ever since the Akatsuki extracted Shukaku from me, I can sleep you know."

"Old habits die hard," Neji shrugged.

Gaara regarded him with lidded eyes. "If that is the case, then why couldn't you fall asleep Hyuga? Surely you are trained to sleep through the adrenaline before battle."

Gaara tried not to snicker when Neji shifted uncomfortably. "I think you are aware of the reason, Gaara-san."

Gaara wasn't quite sure from when he went to comforting Neji over battle jitters to ripping Neji's clothes off while kissing him madly in the dark interior of his tent, but he couldn't say that he minded too much.

He woke early the next morning, and was unsurprised to find that Neji had vanished. It was almost as if Neji had been a wonderful dream, but when he'd woken up in the morning the sense of insatiable desire had vanished along with the Hyuga's presence.

Later, while he waited to address the Shinobi Alliance, his eyes searched the crowd impatiently. His eyes finally rested on Neji who stood tersely at the head of an orderly line of Hyuga fighters.

Neji looked up, and then raised an eyebrow at Gaara.

Gaara raised an eyebrow in response, but then he remembered that he didn't haveany, so Neji couldn't see what he was thinking. Instead, he winked at him before turning away.

The troops would be deployed shortly; there was no time to try and figure out the muddle of odd emotions in his mind.

Later though, when they had retreated for the night…well, that would be an entirely different situation.

**a/n**: Oh yeah, the whole night and day thing-it doesn't really happen in the manga, but I'm just basing the battle situation on how armies would fight during the day and recuperate during the night during medieval times. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this-I left the ending a bit ambiguous, but I personally imagine that they could pick up a relationship and take it from there. Don't forget to review and take the poll! (For people without accounts, you can leave requests in reviews. Don't be shy! Plotbunnies and pairings are both acceptable )


	13. Daydreaming itanejishika

**a/n**: Hey y'all! I actually ended up writing two drabbles this weekend (yay!) so we got two updates in a week! *hooray*

A note on this drabble-I based the characters off of Greek gods and mythology. A naiad is a water nymph, and a dryad is a tree nymph. I didn't use any actual positions or names but their personalities are taken from the mythology.

Warnings: three-some, Sasuke have weird day-dreams, and people getting touchy-feely. Disclaimer on my profile. This drabble is racier than the others I tried, but I hope you guys still enjoy it. Oh, and Fem!Neji.

Drabble 013: Itanejishika; Daydreaming

Uchiha Sasuke, god of the birds, brooded as he watched a group of dryads splashing merrily in the cool shallows of the creek.

Sasuke looked up in interest when suddenly, the entire group of dryads shrieked and then scrambled away. His mouth fell open at the sight of the gorgeous naiad standing on top of the water, glaring at her earthly cousins.

"Foolish cousins! You woke me up with all of your giddy splashing and singing. Go run off and keep cool in the shade of Mother Oak-get thee gone!"

The dryads dashed off, not wanting to risk the wrath of their cousin.

Sasuke watched shrewdly as the beautiful water nymph stepped on to the bank of the creek.

_Got you._ Sasuke swooped in, seized the girl, and flew off to his mountain. He could see himself, holding the girl tight as they flew through the sky. She would struggle and cry, just like any other but eventually she would give in to his demands…

Sasuke shook himself awake, only realize that the beautiful naiad had vanished back in to her abode.

Sasuke sighed, and turned in to an eagle before circling over the river and then flying away.

Later, when he was talking with friend Shikamaru, God of the Wolves, Shikamaru laughed at him. "That's what you get for daydreaming little brother. That naiad's name is Neji, the daughter of old Hizashi the Martyr-I wouldn't suggest you pursue her."

Sasuke had snorted and laughed, but that night he returned to the river in the form of a night owl, and was astonished at what he found.

He saw Neji, dancing on her little creek beneath the moonlit sky, and singing an eerie song that for some reason, reminded him of…

_Itachi?_

Sasuke watched in astonishment as his brother Itachi, the God of the Moon, appeared on the banks of the creek.

His eyes hardened with jealousy when Neji threw herself in to Itachi's arms.

He didn't turn when he felt Shikamaru materialize at his side.

"I warned you," Shikamaru sighed. "Come away, Sasuke-there's nothing for you here."

Sasuke screeched angrily and sped off in to the night.

Itachi and Neji were so absorbed in each other's attention, they didn't even notice Sasuke furiously circling overhead before leaving with another angry screech.

Shikamaru on the other hand, approached the river bank. Shikamaru had constantly howled for the moon, but when the moon continued to ignore his advances he had backed away and had nearly given up.

However, Shikamaru could honestly say that he wasn't too offended if _this_ heavenly being was what he had been passed up for. Shikamaru smirked before coming out of the reeds and approaching the couple and burying his hands in Neji's long silky hair, even as Itachi reached over and cupped his face.

Well, he had warned Sasuke, hadn't he? Shikamaru chuckled softly as snaked his hands under Neji's dress.

It was really Sasuke's fault if it had taken him this many millennia to notice Neji anyways.

**a/n**: And that's what you get for being oblivious Sasuke! Lol :) Don't forget to review and take the poll! See ya next drabble! (Omg all the pairings on the poll are tied. 0.o I guess all my work is cut out for me then, lol)


	14. Knocked Out I sasuneji

**a/n**: Hey y'all! Thank you for your lovely reviews :) Finally, a sasuneji! Warnings: none, disclaimer on my profile.

Drabble 014: Knocked Out Part I Sasuneji

Sasuke raised an eyebrow when Orochimaru snapped his fingers and the cave wall slid open. When Orochimaru started getting overly dramatic, it meant that he was trying to make a point about something.

He followed closely behind his teacher and stopped in the center of a large room. "What are we doing here?"

"I have a new task for you, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru hissed. Sasuke held back a shudder; the only perk of studying under Orochimaru was the technique. Everything else disgusted Sasuke, right now to the slimy white robes he wore.

A guard dragged a shackled figure in dirty, ripped clothing towards them. Sasuke raised an eyebrow when he saw that the captive had a bag over his head. "And that task is…?"

Orochimaru smirked and strode over. He seized the bag and lifted it from the prisoner's shoulders.

Sasuke's eyebrows nearly disappeared behind his bangs when he saw the young man's face. He remembered him from a while back. "A bag will not stop the Byakugan eye, Orochimaru."

Annoyance flitted across Orochimaru's face. "I know that, Sasuke-kun. He has been knocked out with a strong sedative. Now…your task. Kill him."

"_Now_?" Sasuke's hand automatically moved towards his sword, but he paused.

"But of course," Orochimaru smirked slightly. "You never had a problem with killing in cold blood before. If you cannot kill this person you barely knew at one point in your life, how can you ever hope to kill your older brother?"

"How has he irked you?"

"No reason." Orochimaru turned away. "It was easy enough to capture him while he was roaming the woods alone. I have no grudge against the Hyuga. Rather, I would like to learn about his eyes…but he is useless. A branch member."

Sasuke took a moment to admire Neji's strong face before dropping his hand. "No, I will not kill him."

"No?" Orochimaru sounded amused. "Ah…so unpredictable, Sasuke-kun. I thought for sure you would murder him in cold blood."

"Let him go. He's nothing for you."

Orochimaru waved a hand impassively and left. "Do with him what you will. It would be nice if you killed him, but nothing I could say will stop you. Weakling…you'll never beat your brother like this!"

Sasuke was already gone. He looked down at the sleeping boy's face cradled on his chest and felt an odd twinge in his chest. The boy reminded him of an innocent nestling…

Sasuke snorted. He would wait for the Hyuga to wake up in a place where someone could take care of him. Then, his obligation to this innocent would be done.

With a clear mission set in his mind, Sasuke hastened his pace for the nearest village. A civilian would be able to take care of Neji there.

**a/n:** Part II will be up shortly; I'm' just having some trouble with the ending. Anyways, don't forget to review! See ya next chappie :)


	15. Knocked out II

**a/n**: And on to part II! No warnings, disclaimer on my profile. I didn't really like how this one turned out, but you can let me know your thoughts in a review

Drabble 015: Knocked Out Part II

Sasuke deposited Neji's still sleeping body in an abandoned alleyway before paying for a room at an inn. Then, he snuck back in to the alley and brought Neji in through the window; he didn't want anyone to suspect what he had done.

Sasuke set Neji on the futon and leaned against the wall, settling in for a long wait.

Eventually, Neji's eyes fluttered open and he weakly pushed himself up. "What…?" Neji stiffened when he saw Sasuke.

"You!"

Sasuke ignored him and stood up. "I'll tell the inn owners to take care of you until you return home safely."

"Wait!"

Sasuke paused, his hand on the doorknob.

Neji rushed onwards. "Um…I guess I should tell you this. Naruto hasn't given up on you yet."

Sasuke snorted and twisted the door handle. "He never would. If that's all, Hyuga-"

"Your brother's back in Konoha."

Neji closed his eyes when he felt the cold edge of Sasuke's sword at his throat.

"What do you mean '_Itachi's back in Konoha_'?" Sasuke snarled viciously. "You can't expect me to believe that the Hokage…even the old man, he wouldn't just accept Itachi back in to the village after he went missing-nin!"

"We have a new Hokage. After Itachi explained his story to her, she was quite…understanding."

"What story?"

"Come back to the village and find out."

Sasuke paused, and then smirked. "If I ever return to the village, it certainly won't be for my brother."

"Naruto, then?"

"If I ever return to Konoha…" Sasuke removed his sword from Neji's throat before crossing the room. He placed his hand over the doorknob and threw a devilish look over his shoulder. "It will be to steal you away, Neji."

Neji opened his mouth to respond, but Sasuke was already gone.

Neji shut his mouth, opened it and then shut it again.

"Did Uchiha Sasuke really just flirt with me?"

The closet door scraped open and Uchiha Itachi stepped out. Neji yelped and jerked backwards, but Itachi simply laughed before closing the door again.

"It would appear that my little brother and I share similar interests."

At that point, Neji fainted due to the overload of Uchiha emotion. The last thing he saw before the blackness set in was Itachi chuckling as he leaned down and shifted Neji in to his arms.

**a/n**: So…I hope that I could satisfy my voters who chose Sasuneji on the poll. See ya next drabble!


	16. bone tired hidan neji

**a/n**: Ok…so I've only written Hidan once before, and if you're this far along you'll realize that everyone is frickin' ooc and that everyone is sweet and sappy…which is how Hidan turned out this time. (I personally think he was a lot better in Immortal Rest, but oh well) but I just really wanted something with Hidan and Neji together, and this is what happened. So, I hope you like it and I'm really sorry about how Hidan is like _way_ sweet. And has no personality. *sniffle* Anyways, onwards-no warnings, disclaimer on my profile. Enjoy!

Drabble 016: Bone-tired. Hidan/Neji

Neji stuck his hands in to the pockets of his jeans and shivered; he hadn't bothered reading the weather forecast last night and now he was paying for it. He'd headed out to class in his regular winter coat, jeans and black shirt but now he was stranded underneath the awning of an apartment building until the rain stopped.

To Neji's surprise, and then mild terror, a fancy black car pulled to a stop in front of the apartment awning. Neji tensed; all sorts of people roamed the streets of New York. What if the person was a pervert or-

A head of silver hair popped out the car window. "Do you need a ride back to your place?"

"Hidan!" Neji beamed at his boyfriend and hurried through the rain towards the car.

"Neji," Hidan grinned. Hidan loved it when Neji smiled; when he'd first met him in a dance class at the arts academy that Neji attended, he'd thought that Neji was elegant in a cold, marble sort of way. Over time, he'd gotten to know Neji better and better, and he'd come to love the sweet, caring side that Neji showed only to the people closest to his heart.

"I was so silly," Neji muttered once he was safely in the passenger side of the car. "I didn't bring my umbrella to dance class with me today."

"Who's your teacher now?" Hidan started off down the busy streets of New York; Neji lived in an apartment on the other side of town. Hidan had graduated from the arts academy last year, and now he performed regularly in a dance troupe.

"Ms. Pamela," Neji sighed, and stretched. "She really put us through our paces today."

"If you're tired, you can rest."

Neji frowned slightly. "But…you always get annoyed if I fall asleep while you drive."

"This time it's an exception. You must be exhausted." Hidan smiled over at Neji, who gave him a small smile in return.

"Well…I guess a little nap can't hurt." Neji settled in to the comfy cushions of Hidan's car and closed his eyes.

Hidan smiled when Neji's expression smoothed over and his breathing evened out. He knew that Neji was pushing himself hard in an effort to prove himself to his family; in Hidan's opinion though, there was nothing to prove. It was true that Neji came from a long line of fantastic artists, musicians, singers, dancers and performers, but Neji was already better than most of his family, as well as nearly all of his class.

Hidan finally pulled to a stop in front of Neji's small apartment and gently shook Neji's shoulder.

Neji woke with a start. "Wha…? Oh." Neji looked at Hidan sheepishly. "Sorry; I guess I was more tired than I thought."

Hidan smiled and shook his head. "It's fine." The rain continued to pound on the windows of his car. "You go on and get some sleep now."

Neji paused as he was getting out of the car. "Are…are you sure you don't want to come inside?"

Hidan shook his head. "I can't stay long; I have to go to a rehearsal in five minutes."

Neji smiled quietly. "Have fun at rehearsal. I'll call you later."

"Yeah." Hidan watched Neji enter the apartment building with narrowed eyes; he couldn't help but notice the slight sway of Neji's hips, the way his hair bounced as he dashed through the rain, and the cute wave he gave before he vanished out of sight.

Hidan sighed and started the engine of his car again. Neji was one of those people who waited to get married before sleeping together, and sometimes it drove Hidan up the wall.

Hidan frowned disappointedly as he set off for the theater. Tonight, he had planned on proposing to Neji back at his apartment, but one look at the cold, piqued look on his boyfriend's face had put an end to that plan.

Hidan resisted to the urge to beat the steering wheel in frustration.

Unfortunately, it seemed as if his plans for his and Neji's future would have to wait for better weather.

**a/n**: Aw…isn't Hidan such a sweety? Anyways, I hope you liked this. In the future, I'm kind of running out on sleep ideas so this will probably just turn in to a drabble collection filled with fluff, happiness and cuteness. Anyways, don't forget to review and see ya next drabble!


	17. siesta itaneji

**a/n**: Hey y'alls! **Finally**-This is the sequel to 'restless' (drabble 5). Enjoy! No warnings, disclaimer on my profile. Prepare yourself for an onslaught of fluff!

Drabble 017: Itaneji; Siesta; continuation of restless.

Itachi smiled fondly as his spouse's and his extended family ambled down the sunny beach in Spain. He turned his husband and smirked down at him. "Things are going surprisingly well so far."

Neji smiled up at him and interlocked their fingers. "They are-who would have thought that Sasuke and Hanabi would get along so well?"

Itachi snorted. "They only get along because they both enjoy taunting Hinata."

Neji's happy expression faltered slightly. "Well…you know how things are. Hinata has always been a weak figure to them."

Itachi sighed, and leaned over to kiss Neji's cheek. "I didn't mean to upset you, love."

The couple froze when the harsh glare of the camera flash hit their faces. Hinata giggled at them from behind the camera and waved teasingly. "You two were so cute, it was impossible not to take a picture!"

Neji flushed in embarrassment while Itachi laughed and pulled him closer. "Ain't that the truth," he winked.

Neji responded by punching him in the arm, and then hiding his face Itachi's shoulder out of sheer mortification. "I'm not cute," he muttered.

Hinata laughed at them, and Neji didn't have to look up to know that she was taking a picture again.

"You know…it was good of you two to organize something like this for our families," she said in a soft voice. "Father and Fugaku-san get along much better now."

"And you? Do you get along with Sasuke and Mikoto better now?" Neji detached himself from Itachi's side and moved towards Hinata.

"Not really," Hinata said cheerfully, "But they'll never accept me as I am. They both like Hanabi much more."

"Hinata…" Neji's shoulders slumped slightly, and Hinata poked him in the forehead.

"Don't be sad, Nii-san! I don't care what they think anyways. Now, do you want to see the pictures or head down the beach with the others?"

"Neji and I were planning to head back to the hotel," Itachi interrupted. "He's got a bit of a headache."

Hinata gazed at Neji concernedly. "Well, you'd better head back and rest. I'll let the others know where you two went!" she hurried off down the beach, leaving a small cloud of dust in her wake.

Neji gazed questioningly at Itachi as they headed back to their hotel; they'd had to pool together quite a bit of money, but they had successfully secured several rooms for two weeks in a nice hotel only two blocks away from the beach. "Itachi, I don't have a headache."

Itachi sighed deeply. "I just wanted to get away from all of the family drama-anyways, we haven't been alone since we arrived three days ago."

"Hm."

When they arrived at their hotel room, Neji bolted the door shut while Itachi went in to the bathroom to wash the sand off his feet. When they were both clean and dry, they snuggled up on the bed together.

"I always did wonder-in Spain, all the shops close for a couple hours in the afternoon and everyone goes home to either rest, or take a quick nap. I never understood how anyone could just drop what they were doing and go home to sleep."

Neji smiled. "Well, you can't stop what you're doing until you're all done with it. Maybe Spanish people are different."

"Hm." Itachi shifted so that Neji was lying on his side beneath him. "Spain…the land of Spanish food, music, culture…"

"History nut," Neji muttered.

"I like to find things out about a place before I visit it," Itachi countered. "As I was saying…food, culture, music…conquest…oh, and how I could I forget?" Itachi smirked, and leaned in close. "Seduction," he whispered softly.

Neji rolled his eyes at Itachi's antics, but allowed him to close the distance between them. "Whatever you have in mind, I'm not wearing a dress."

"You don't have to," Itachi murmured. "Just let me pleasure you…"

"Mmm…wait. Aren't we s-supposed to…be sleeping?" Neji gasped out.

Itachi lifted his head from Neji's neck, and grinned at him devilishly. "You were the one who said that I couldn't stop until I completely finished something," he pointed out.

Neji mumbled something incoherent, and then pulled Itachi up for a kiss.

Well, he had been the one to say it after all. He really should have seen it coming; especially since with Itachi, everything was a game.

And he loved his husband all the more for it.

**a/n**: Wasn't that cute? Anyways, hope y'all enjoyed…don't forget to review and see ya next drabble!


	18. blind date hidanneji

**a/n: **Hey everybody! This drabble is dedicated to **darkstardragon432** in honor of her incredibly faithful reviewing and all of her support for this series. Enjoy! (No warnings, disclaimer on my profile…you know the drill guys.)

Drabble 018: Hidan/Neji, Blind Date

Hidan growled in annoyance and crossed his arms before glaring across the restaurant at his friend, Kakuzu. He'd lost a bet, and so now he was stuck in a small little restaurant, waiting for his date to arrive.

Hidan grimaced at Kakuzu who winked back and held up a video recorder before turning back to his girlfriend whom he had dragged along with the whole venture. Yes, Hidan had lost a bet-and now he was paying for it terribly; as the victor, Kakuzu had promptly made arrangements to set Hidan up on a blind date.

Hidan eyed the clock distastefully; his date was a guy with long, brown hair…Kakuzu had printed out an extremely blurry picture of the guy, and had refused to tell him what his name was. Said mystery man was supposed to have met him at the restaurant ten minutes ago. Hidan felt a slight surge of hope; was he going to be dumped and given the easy ticket out of this situation?

Hidan sighed and stared at the clock again before absent-mindedly picking at the tablecloth; to his annoyance, someone approached his table. His head snapped up, and he was about to retort that _no, he was __**not**__ ready to order yet thank you very much!_ When his jaw dropped open and he nearly choked on his own spit.

Standing in front of him, shyly twisting his long brown hair was the most beautiful man Hidan had ever seen.

"Um…hi. Are you Hidan?"

Hidan found his voice (and his manners), and quickly stood up. "Yeah, I'm Hidan. Nice to meet you," he smiled warmly before drawing the beauty's chair out for him.

"I'm Neji." Neji smiled cutely at Hidan before accepting the proffered chair and sitting down. Meanwhile, Hidan shot a wide-eyed look at Kakuzu before shooting him a thumbs-up. Kakuzu smirked at him knowingly, but Hidan honestly couldn't care less at the moment.

Dinner went smoothly, and Hidan used every chance he could to make Neji smile-he just couldn't get enough of it. Meanwhile, Hidan was pleased to note that Neji seemed to be having a good time, and that Neji seemed to be very accepting of his advances.

Unfortunately, though, all good things must come to an end. At midnight, five hours later, the restaurant closed down and Hidan and Neji reluctantly left the establishment.

"Do you need a ride back to your place?"

"No, I live nearby."

Hidan's eyes narrowed. "At least let me walk you home-it isn't safe to walk around the streets at night on your own."

Neji laughed lightly. "I can take care of myself. I teach the advanced students in my family martial arts studio."

Hidan smirked. "I'm sure you can." They stood in silence for a moment before Hidan turned to leave.

"Wait!" Neji cried out. Hidan stopped, and turned around slowly. He had a feeling he knew what was coming next.

"Um…you know, I really enjoyed myself tonight and maybe…we could, you know, meet up again sometime?"

Hidan smirked. _Jackpot._ "But…how can we meet up if I can't contact you?"

Neji grinned; two could play this game. He sauntered forward and pulled his business card out of his shirt pocket before tucking in to Hidan's jeans.

"You can call me," Neji smirked.

Hidan chuckled, grabbed Neji's withdrawing hand, and pressed a soft kiss to Neji's knuckles. "I'll call you later, then."

Neji smiled and waved. "See ya!" Neji headed off down the street without looking back, and Hidan chuckled again. Grinning, he headed off towards his car while fingering Neji's business card in his pocket.

He knew that he'd get a ton of flak from Kakuzu tomorrow, but right now he could hardly care less. He barely waited until he got home before grabbing his cellphone and entering in Neji's number.

"_This is Neji Hyuga speaking._"

"Hey, Neji."

Hidan smiled at the sound of happy laughter floating over the phone. "_You couldn't wait until tomorrow morning?_"

"Naw."

Neji laughed again, and Hidan felt a tugging sensation at his heart.

Oh yes, he was hopelessly, madly head over heels for a man he'd barely met five hours ago.

But hey, he had to live a little right?

Hidan smirked, and shook his head; Kakuzu really was the best friend ever. Maybe losing the bet hadn't been the worst thing after all.

**a/n**: Yeah…so I hope you liked it! This is the first drabble completely unrelated to sleeping so tell me what you think!


	19. closet itaneji

**A/N**: Hey y'all! This is a oneshot for **Auehara** who is another faithful reviewer of this series. (Aaaaah! I know that this one is _way_ longer than the one for darkstardragon432, but please know that I love both of you equally and that these ideas took different amounts of space and time to develop them!) Enjoy! (Disclaimer on my profile, no warnings except for make-out sessions in broom closets. Onward!)

Drabble 019: Itaneji for Auehara; Closet

Neji sighed heavily as he watched Itachi dancing with some girl from across the room. This was why he hated coming to these 'parties' with the Uchiha clan-he always had to sit in the back of the room while everyone pretended he didn't exist; then, to add to his misery, he always had to suffer through watching Itachi dance with every single eligible girl in town.

Yes, Neji had an inexorable crush on the Uchiha, but like hell he would let anyone know about it! Neji shifted and made himself more comfortable at the table he was sitting at with a couple of his fellow lesser cousins before raising an eyebrow at all of them.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"You just sighed. You just sighed like a lovesick _girl_," one of his cousins, Hideki, said.

"I did _not_," Neji snapped back.

Hideki waggled his eyebrows. "Now, now, no need to get all defensive. Now…who is it?"

"Who is _what_?" Neji snapped testily.

"Which girl are you staring at?" Hideki sat up in his chair and began frantically scanning the crowds. "Was it…hm…"

Sakuno and Aki giggled next to Hideki. "You look so flustered, Neji-nii!" Sakuno laughed. "Hideki, are you sure it was a _girl_ he was looking at?"

Neji stood up, annoyed. "Do either of you want anything to drink?" he asked, pointedly ignoring the subject.

Sakuno shook her head; Aki kept giggling so he assumed she didn't want anything. Hideki was too busy looking at the other side of the room, so Neji decided that Hideki probably wouldn't want anything either. He stalked off towards the drink table without another word.

However, before he could reach his destination, someone grabbed his arm and jerked him in to a small alcove; Neji pulled back his fist and slammed in to his assailant's face without a second thought.

"_Ow_." Uchiha Sasuke rubbed his face. "What the hell?"

Neji glared at him and folded his arms. "I could say the same to you."

Sasuke sighed and rubbed his face one last time. "Look, I have to run so let's keep this short."

Neji spluttered. "I'm not the one who dragged us in here in the first place!" Neji knew that he didn't have to care about speaking freely with Sasuke; Sasuke was crazy, and he didn't really have a sense of propriety in the first place.

"Do you like my brother?"

"Nope!" Neji blurted out instinctively. "Why are you asking me this?"

"Just wondering. Talk to you later, Hyuga." Sasuke strolled off, leaving Neji completely dumbfounded. Eventually though, Neji got a hold of himself and left the alcove in search of something to drink.

_Why did he even bother talking to me? He's the son of the head of the Uchiha, and I'm just a lesser Hyuga-why didn't he just pretend that I was non-existent like everyone else?_ Neji snatched up a glass of water and returned to his table without further incident.

"You took your own sweet time." Hideki stared at him accusingly.

"There was a slight mishap." Neji smirked at the sight of Sasuke's bruised face and turned back to his water. "Did you find who you were so avidly looking for?"

Hideki shook his head. "I didn't see any girls you'd be interested in," he informed him brightly.

Neji groaned and narrowly avoided slamming his head in to the table. Hideki never gave up, did he?

XXX

Neji sighed in exasperation-apparently, at some point during the party, Hideki had run off to go explore the Uchiha mansion. According to Sakuno, he was checking out the second floor. Neji had been in to _every single room _on the second floor, and if Hideki wasn't hiding in this one then Neji was going to go home and just let his uncle deal with Hideki later.

Neji stepped cautiously in to the room-it wasn't so much a room as a very large closet. It was filled with all manner of mops and cleaning supplies.

"Hideki?" Neji stepped further in to the room. "Hideki, I swear to high heaven, if you don't-"

Suddenly, the door slammed shut behind Neji, and the lights flicked off! Neji's voice faltered, and then died away. He cautiously found a wall and began making his way back to the door.

To his annoyance, the door was locked. Neji huffed in displeasure; there was no doubt about it. Hideki had been waiting for him the whole time, and the moment he'd come inside Hideki had locked him in. But why, though? Hideki always had a purpose behind his pranks.

Neji flinched when he heard something shift in the room. "Hello?" he called out, his voice quavering slightly.

His heart beat faster at the sound of approaching footsteps; apparently whoever was in the room with him knew the contours of the closet very well. He tried again. "Hello? Who's-who's there?" Neji pressed himself back in to the door.

Neji gasped when he felt strong arms encircle his waist and pull him away from the door. Neji tried to push the person away. "Who _are _you? Answer me, damn it!" Whoever was holding him was a man-when Neji tried to push the person away, his hands met a flat, strong chest.

In response, the mystery man just pulled him closer and started kissing him.

"Wha…Mmm! Mmmph…mmm…" Neji couldn't help but melt in to the kiss-the person was doing all kinds of amazing things to his lips and his mouth. Neji reached up and wrapped his arms around the man's neck, surprised when his fingers slipped through smooth, silky hair.

Eventually though, they had to break apart for air. Neji laid his head against the man's chest in listened to the erratic heartbeat. "Who are you?" he whispered softly.

Almost as if in response to his question, the door swung open behind him and light flooded in to the room; Neji and the mysterious kisser guiltily sprang apart. Flustered, Neji shoved his now-loose hair behind his ears and whirled around to face the intruders.

To Neji's utter annoyance, Hideki and Sasuke stood on the other side of the door. Hideki crowed with laughter while Sasuke smirked at him. With a feeling of dread building up in his stomach, Neji slowly turned around…

To see the one and only Uchiha Itachi staring impassively at him. Neji's eyes widened briefly before he turned on heel and ran down the corridor, ignoring Hideki's shouts and Sasuke's smirk. _Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it! _ When Neji was a safe distance away, he stopped and punched the wall. Of all the things that had to happen, his cousin and Sasuke just _had_ to walk in him making out with Itachi. And that look that Itachi had given him afterwards…Neji shuddered. There hadn't been anything to read in that expression-so, now Neji was fairly sure that Itachi thought that he was a slut. Things just couldn't get any worse.

Neji was so lost in the depths of his misery that he didn't hear the footsteps coming along the corridor until it was too late.

Itachi came around the corner and stopped with a relieved expression when he saw Neji. "Hey."

Neji blinked in shock, and then stood up a little straighter while allowing his hair to fall forward and cover his face. "Hey."

"Um…You left this." Neji looked up in surprise to see Itachi dangling his hairband in front of his face.

Neji scowled and fought a blush before taking it back. "You took it from me," he accused him.

Itachi smirked. "Well, I was going to save it for later, but I couldn't just let you run off like that."

Neji paused in the process of putting his hair up. "Why not?"

In response, Itachi stepped closer to him. "I liked kissing you," he informed him. Neji barely breathed as their bodies slowly drifted closer and closer. "I want to kiss you again. I'm _going_ to kiss you again," Itachi muttered against his mouth.

Neji didn't stop him.

When they broke apart again, Itachi firmly held him in place by his hips. "I want to see you again-outside one of these ridiculous parties. Do you think you could meet me in the central market for lunch tomorrow?"

A small smile unfurled at the top corner of Neji's mouth. "Alright," he agreed. He gently pulled himself free. "I'll see you tomorrow." He fled down the hall and back to his uncle before he could open his mouth and say something idiotic that would ruin the whole thing. Even as he wandered through the halls of the mansion on the way up to his family, he couldn't wipe the ridiculous grin off his face.

The first thing he did when he found Hideki again was to punch him in the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" Hideki rubbed his arm resentfully.

"Never, ever, _ever_ try setting me up with anyone. Ever again." Neji glared at him before walking off.

"Did it work?" Hideki followed him, eager to learn the results of Sasuke's and his collaboration.

"Maybe," Neji acknowledged.

Hideki shrieked in triumph. "I was right! I _knew_ it!"

Neji smirked, and shook his head leaving Hideki to dance on the outer grounds of the Uchiha mansion.

After all, he a lot more things to worry about…like what to wear to his little date for tomorrow, for example.

Neji turned back just before he was about to hop in to the car-to his surprise, he saw Itachi standing in a lit window watching the Hyuga procession leave the property.

Neji smirked and hopped in…maybe he would forgive Hideki and his match-making ways just this once.

**a/n: **So…I hope you liked this, AUehara! (I tried to put in all the elements and I feel like my writing style degraded somewhat, but I tried…*sniffle*) Don't forget to review, and see ya next drabble! Oh, and let me know what you think about writing from Neji's perspective-I think that for the most part, these drabbles have been mostly written from the perspective of his various wooers.


	20. accommodating kankuroneji

**a/n**: Woo hoo! I'm trying out new pairings here-this kind of seems like Kankuro to me from the manga; he seemed kind of like a comic character, but he was also a bit of a worrywart as well hahaha. Anyways, disclaimer on my profile, no warnings…this is very sweet as usual-enjoy! (Yes I know, another long one…but I actually really like this. Read for yourself and find out!)

Drabble 020: Accommodating Kankuro/Neji

Neji sighed and twirled his pencil in boredom; he'd received a long-term leg injury on a mission to return a group of unauthorized ninja back to their homeland (the Land of Keys). Unfortunately, the intruders hadn't been very cooperative and Neji's strike force had had to track them for two weeks while impatiently awaiting back-up ninja. Then, just when Neji had been about to knock the leader of the team out with a jyuuken technique, the leader had pulled a shaky, but unexpected earth technique out of his sleeve and Neji had ended up with a broken leg.

His leg wasn't going to heal up for another month or so, and he was stuck in a wheelchair, resulting in his current duty of filling out all of the Hokage's late paperwork. However, there was another issue as well: he'd been scheduled to go on a month-long mission to Sunagakure as a bodyguard for Lady Tsunade, but now that his leg was broken, Neji knew that he wouldn't be making any trips any time soon, much less a trip across five miles of desert. Neji had actually been looking forward to the mission-no, not to the long boring meetings where he had to stand for hours on end while Tsunade tried not to crack Gaara's head open. No, he had been looking forward to seeing his long-distance boyfriend, Kankuro.

Neji sighed in impatience and threw his pen down. He bent down and started wheeling his wheelchair out of his room; the Hokage was letting him work from home, and she always sent someone by to pick up the completed paperwork and carry it up to her office. He carefully wheeled himself outside in to the gardens of the Hyuga compound.

Neji sighed wearily and stared mournfully at the beautifully blooming flowers surrounding him. If he hadn't been injured by the foreign nin, he would be setting out with Lady Tsunade for Sunagakure right now.

To his surprise, he heard the faint strains of Hinata's voice calling out for him. He wearily wheeled himself back up the path and towards the Branch housing in the compound. "I'm here!"

"Oh, Neji-nii!" Hinata beamed at him nervously, and Neji was taken aback by her happily anxious expression. "There's someone here to see you!"

Neji raised an eyebrow and, with Hinata's help, he wheeled himself up the ramp and they set off together towards the courtyard of the compound. Who could the visitor be? He wondered who could make Hinata's face light up in that way besides Naruto; the visitor couldn't be Naruto because Naruto was off in some desolate corner of the Land of Fire doing some crazy training program as usual.

Neji yelped and nearly fell out of his wheelchair when he saw who was waiting for them. "Hinata-sama, wait!" he hissed. "Wheel me back! Hinata, I don't-"

Hinata paused and frowned disappointedly. "I thought you were sad that you wouldn't get to see him this month," she pouted. "Was I wrong?"

Neji rushed to reassure her. "No, you were absolutely right! It's just…I don't want him to see me like this."

"Like what?"

Neji threw his hands up in frustration. "Like _this._ You know…weak, incapable…branded," he muttered.

Hinata sighed softly. "Neji-nii, you knew he would see this side of you anyways. You may as well show him that you aren't totally perfect now rather than later," she teased. "Oh, buck up. You know that Kankuro understands you, and that he would still love you whether or not your leg was broken."

Neji scoffed. "I still don't want him to see me."

Hinata sighed. "Neji! Kankuro argued, and then dragged the Kazekage across five miles of desert and halfway across the Land of Fire all in three days just so that he could come and see you! And this is how you receive him-sulky and ungrateful! Think of everything Kankuro had to do just to be here for you," she scolded him. "Now, smile and go talk to him." Hinata started down the hall again, leaving Neji no chance to protest.

"Neji!" Kankuro knelt down beside Neji after Hinata had calmly rolled his wheelchair over and left the two alone. "Are you alright?"

Neji covered his blush with his hair-for some particularly annoying reason, he couldn't help but blush whenever Kankuro was around. "I'm fine. What…what are you doing here?"

"I convinced Gaara to come to Konoha for the negotiations in order to accommodate to Lady Tsunade's ah…conveniences," Kankuro said breezily.

Neji felt his heart sink a little bit, but he smiled sunnily up at his boyfriend. "I'm glad you're here," he said honestly.

"Yeah, yeah," Kankuro waved Neji's statement to the side. "You're always glad I'm here. You know what's even better?"

Neji shook his head. "What is it?"

"Well, I was so busy dragging everyone across the desert while running around and making arrangements for everything that I sort of overworked myself so my physical energy and my chakra are totally depleted!"

"This is a good thing, because…?" Neji honestly wondered what went on in Kankuro's head sometimes.

"Because now I'm totally useless to Gaara as a bodyguard which is what I originally came here for, so I just get to hang out, and I intend to use that time to be with _you_." He poked Neji hard in the forehead. "Honestly, I don't know what goes on in that pretty little head of yours."

Neji flushed and rubbed his face. "You're insane."

"Aren't I always?"

Neji stared up at him helplessly before squeezing Kankuro's hands tightly. "I love you."

Kankuro's face softened, and they shared a sweet kiss in the courtyard of the compound.

Later, after Kankuro had left, Hinata dropped by Neji's rooms.

"Nii-san?"

"Yes Hinata-sama?"

"What did I tell you? Was it really so bad?" Hinata winked at him from the doorway. "Sometimes, it's good to accommodate yourself to certain situations Nii-san." With that, she gave a cheerful way and headed off for bed.

Even if it had involved a lot of stress while running around frantically calling Sunagakure and trying to contact Kankuro, doing all of her captain's C-rank missions for the next month in order to make up for all of the work she would have to do, and the fact that Hinata herself was the who had to organize all the security and meeting spaces in Konoha paled in comparison to the bright, sunny smile that Hinata had seen on Neji's face when she'd stopped by his room.

She chuckled after she flopped back on to the bed. Really, she would do just about anything to secure a moment of happiness for her cousin, wouldn't she?

**a/n**: So, how did you guys like it? Did you think that Hinata's involvement was irrelevant, weird, too much, or ok? Don't forget to review, and see you next drabble! :p (That's becoming like my catch-phrase now, lol.)


	21. Sick zabuzaneji

**a/n**: Hey y'all! Still experimenting with new pairings here-lots of fluff and sweetness. No warnings, disclaimer on my profile...onwards!

Drabble 021: Zabuza/Neji; Sick.

Zabuza snorted when he walked in to their apartment, and was greeted by the sight of his fiancé sitting on the couch with a box of tissues, a soft blanket, and nice long book.

"What happened to _you_?" Zabuza kicked his shoes off and hung his coat and hat on their coat rack; the one downside of going to college on the east coast was that it rained non-stop during the winter.

"I'm sick," Neji said nasally before turning the page of his novel. "I stayed home from class today."

"I can see that." Zabuza raised an eyebrow at the sight of a steaming mug of tea on their dining room table. "Although apparently, you're not sick enough to stop making tea for me." He smiled gently and ruffled Neji's hair to let him know that he appreciated the kind gesture. "Thanks."

Neji sniffled and smiled at him. "You're welcome."

Zabuza threw himself down at the kitchen table and took several gulps of hot tea before he felt warmth starting to spread through his body. He sighed in relief and got up again. "I'll be right back-just let me change in to something dry." Neji nodded absently while his eyes skimmed the pages of his book, and Zabuza left to go warm up.

When he came back, he raised an eyebrow when he saw Neji kicking off his comforter and standing up. "Where are you going?"

"I'm throwing my tissue away."

Zabuza rolled his eyes and picked up the trashcan before depositing it next to Neji on the floor. "There. Now you don't have to get up." Neji smiled sweetly at the gruff kindness that Zabuza usually showed him before curling back up under his blanket.

Zabuza grabbed his tea and plopped down on the couch before stealing Neji's book from his unsuspecting fingers. He smirked at Neji's indignant squawk and put the book on his lap. "Let me read to you."

"W-what?" What was up with Zabuza? He was being blatantly sweet, which he never was.

"I'm reading to you," he growled. "Now shut up and listen." He pulled Neji over from the other side of the couch so that Neji was snuggled up against his chest. "Now," he cleared his throat. "Once upon a time…"

Neji giggled and snuggled closer. "That's not what it says, Zabuza." Well, whatever Zabuza was up to, he wasn't complaining. "Wait…are you starting from the beginning?! I was in the middle of the story!"

"Well, I want to know what's going on the story too," Zabuza groused. "Anyways-Chapter One: The Bride. Buttercup was the most beautiful woman in the world…"

Neji sighed and closed his eyes; he really was very tired, and he the rumbling vibrations of Zabuza's chest quickly lulled him in to the land of sleep.

Zabuza smiled and closed the book before scooping Neji up and carrying him up to his room; he never got sick, so he wasn't too worried about germs.

_Two weeks later…_

Neji blinked in surprise when Zabuza sneezed violently after he shut the door. "Are you sick?"

"I don't get sick," Zabuza said crossly. "Now…a…a…ACHOO!"

Neji couldn't help but burst in to laughter. "I'm infectious," he teased. "Here-come to bed. I'll read you a story."

Zabuza rolled his eyes, but allowed Neji to tug him upstairs and settle him in bed.

Neji cleared his throat and began. "Chapter One: The Bride…"

Zabuza grinned and propped himself up on his elbows; he could never resist his lover's enticingly sweet, kind, gentle voice or nature.

**a/n: **So much cuteness...this one was for my sister who loves the princess bride (both the novel and the movie). I hope you enjoyed; don't forget to review, and feel free to suggest pairings you'd like to see in this series!


	22. Bakery choujineji

**a/n**: Hello everyone! Thank you for the lovely reviews

So…more experimenting. This one is really cute…disclaimer on my profile, no warnings-enjoy!

Drabble 022: Bakery, Chouji/Neji

Neji pulled an apron over his head and got busy starting scones for the high-end bakery he worked at in the richer portion of Los Angeles.

"Morning Neji!" Ten-Ten, his fellow morning-shift baker, chirped after hopping out from the pantry. "You're late today."

"Shh!" Neji hissed frantically. "Don't be so loud!"

Ten-Ten raised an eyebrow. "You know Chouji would let anything slide for you," she teased.

"That's why I said 'sh'," Neji said crossly. "I would rather just not have him know about it in the first place."

Ten-Ten sighed and shook her head. "Neji, there's nothing wrong with liking Chouji."

"He's our boss. If I like him, I can't hold this job anymore."

"You two could open a bakery together," Ten-Ten wiggled her eyebrows at him.

"Don't be an idiot," Neji scoffed. "And…I wouldn't want to go work at another bakery," his face softened. "You guys are like my family."

Ten-Ten smiled at that. "You sap. Anyways, hurry up-you were fifteen minutes late, that'll cut us back a hell of a lot of scones."

"Yes ma'am." Neji started running around and throwing orders fast at the two sleepy-eyed interns.

Ten-Ten smiled softly as she watched Neji run around the kitchen; he really didn't know what had happened with Chouji then, huh? "Neji…you know, Chouji got hired as the assistant manager at Noelle's, right?"

Neji didn't stop kneading his scone dough. "Yeah, I know."

Ten-Ten frowned. "Then why…?"

"Because the bastard who got hired in Chouji's place said that he would only give me half my daily salary on days that I come in late," Neji whispered harshly. "Of all the people that Yoshino chose to hire, she chose Uchiha Sasuke."

"Sasuke? Which interviewee was that one?"

"The one with the weird hair and the pale skin…black eyes? No? Well, you might've been in the back room when he came up for his interview," Neji shrugged. "But yeah, he's hardass. So don't let him know that I was late, 'kay?"

"'Kay." They both returned to their work in silence.

XXX

Neji opened his backpack and changed in to a clean, non-floury set of clothes before stepping out of the stall and cleaning off his face. He pulled his backpack on over his shoulders and carefully fixed his hair. Once everything was just the way he wanted, he stepped back from the mirror and turned to leave the employee's bathroom when he realized that Sasuke had been watching him from the door the whole time. "Mr. Uchiha!"

"Sasuke is just fine." Sasuke moved forward until he stood in front of Neji. "You have a date?"

Neji nodded slowly. "Yes. Um, if you'll excuse me, I need to get going-"

"Dump your date and come have lunch with me," Sasuke told him. "It'll be worth your while."

Neji raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I'm serious," Sasuke pressed.

"No thanks," Neji scoffed and pushed past him. "I'm taken, sorry."

"Wha-" Sasuke stared as the bathroom door swung shut behind Neji. No one had ever rejected before-who was the guy Neji was going to meet?

Sasuke followed Neji down the street at a discreet distance and raised an eyebrow when he saw a somewhat rotund young man with brown hair and face paint hug Neji and kiss him on the cheek. _He's with that loser? What the heck?_ Sasuke shook his head and went back inside. He would just try again tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Neji and Chouji left Noelle's and walked down to Chouji's car, hand in hand. "How's the new job?" Neji teased. His heart was filled with joy-he and Chouji had realized that they liked each other for a while, and now that Chouji wasn't his boss anymore, they could finally be together.

"It's great. How's the guy Yoshino hired in my place?"

Neji's nose wrinkled. "He's an ass. He tried to get me to dump you."

Chouji chuckled and opened the car door for Neji. "Thanks for sticking with me."

"Where else would I rather be than with you?" Neji winked before hopping inside. Chouji smiled as a fuzzy feeling rose through his stomach-he wasn't sure how Neji had fallen in love with him, but he sure was glad that beautiful, talented older man was his and his alone.

**a/n**: Aw. Neji really has a good eye for kindred spirits lol. And Sasuke is a sore loser eheheheh. Anyways, don't forget to review, and thanks for reading! See ya next drabble


	23. Memories HakuNeji

**a/n**: Hey everybody! I was feeling sad when I wrote this lol. anyways, multiple pairings in this one-some mild zabuza/haku and hakuneji. It's a little sad and mildly dark, but I like this one. So...onwards! (No warnings, disclaimer on my profile. Enjoy!)

Drabble 023: HakuNeji, Memories

Neji pushed open the gate to the graveyard and headed down the rows of silent tombs, his boots clacking loudly against the frozen ground.

"You'll make yourself sick." He draped his coat over the older man's form. "Zabuza wouldn't have wanted that for sure."

"You think so?" Haku shivered and pulled the coat tighter around himself. "Thanks."

"No problem." Neji tucked Haku under his arm as they stood solemnly in front of the snowy grave.

"…He died today," Haku sniffled.

"I know."

Haku smiled tearily and wiped his face; normally, he didn't cry as he tended to be the more stoic of the two, but he was glad that Neji was here for him today. "He was killed in a gunfight. He threw his body in front of me."

"He loved you a lot," Neji murmured. "Did you leave an offering?"

"Yeah." Haku pointed to the wreath of roses hanging on the gravestone.

"Did Zabuza like roses?"

"Yeah." Haku smiled. "Once, he tried to grow his own rose garden. It didn't work very well though."

Neji chuckled, and then fell silent. Finally, he gently tugged on Haku's waist. "Haku, it's time to go home. You'll catch your death out here."

Haku's face fell slightly, but he bowed to the grave one last time before following Neji out of the cemetery. Haku smiled slightly as he remembered how Neji had approached him; Haku had been in intense pain over Zabuza's death, but Neji had helped him get past it. He didn't know where he would be without Neji-probably stuck in the past, unable to move forward.

"Neji."

"What?"

"I love you," Haku told him sincerely. "I know it bothers you, coming here every winter to visit Zabuza's grave."

Neji shook his head. "It doesn't bother me. I know that you aren't in love with a ghost, dear. Now, get in and get warm-you'll feel better."

Haku's lips twitched up in a smile, and he got in the car. "How did you know that I would be here?"

"Lucky guess," Neji said drily. "You've done this for the past four years. Why would this year be any different? No matter what happens to you, Zabuza will always hold a very special place in your heart, and I'm not going to take that away."

Haku sighed and leaned back, his eyes filling with tears. "What did I do to deserve someone wonderful like you?" he whispered to the ceiling of the car.

Neji turned up the heater, and Haku slowly felt warmth seeping back in to his bones. "You were yourself," he said gently. "That's what matters most to me."

Haku giggled and wiped his face. "Damn it, Neji."

Neji chuckled and started driving. "I know."

Haku sighed and closed his eyes. "…Really, Neji. Thanks."

"Yeah, I know. It's no biggie," Neji waved him off. "You know that I'll always find you when you need me."

Haku curled up in his seat, his eyes closing sleepily. "Love you," he mumbled.

Neji just smiled and kept driving through the stark cold streets of the city.

**a/n**: Aw...*sniffle* Well, anyways, don't forget to review and I'll see ya next drabble!


	24. Victim

**a/n**: Hello everyone! Thank you for all your lovely reviews! *huggles* Anyways, this is my very first attempt at angst…it turned out kind of weird, but I hope you enjoy! (Disclaimer on my profile, Warnings: mentions of domestic abuse and Shisui arresting someone. Enjoy!)

Drabble 024: Shisui/Neji Victim

Shisui burst in to the room and pointed his gun at the man with six arms. "Put your hands up!" he bellowed, cocking the gun.

His police team moved in behind him and leveled their guns at the man, who wasn't moving. "I said, _put your hands up_." Shisui gritted his teeth and locked his arms in place so that his gun pointed unwaveringly at the six-armed man.

Finally, Kidomaru moved. He got off of the trembling young man beneath him and stood slowly, raising all six arms in to the air. Shisui mentally sighed in relief while his little cousin, Itachi, moved to handcuff the man. They led him away, and Shisui's youngest (and shortest) cousin, Sasuke, went outside to call an ambulance from his cell.

Shisui knelt down beside the shivering you man on the floor. "Hey. Hey." He gently jostled the young man's arm, and carefully pulled him in to a sitting position. "It's ok now. We can protect you."

Neji stared at him with glittering, tearful eyes. "Gods," he choked. "I though you wouldn't make it-he was ready to kill me when you guys came through," Neji gasped out. Tears streamed down his face, and he covered his eyes with his hands.

"It's ok." Shisui gently pulled Neji in to a loose embrace. "I got your text just in time. Kidomaru will definitely go to jail for this. You're safe now."

Neji sighed helplessly. He thought back to three weeks ago, when Shisui had approached him and together, they had collaborated to gain Neji's freedom from his abusive boyfriend. "Thank you," he whispered.

A team of paramedics came storming through the doors, disrupting the touching moment. Shisui let someone shunt him off to the side while a doctor carefully checked Neji's wounds and bruises.

Itachi came up to stand beside him; Sasuke was still outside. "Shisui…you took your time with this case."

"I didn't want to take any risks with Neji."

Itachi shook his head. "You know what will happen now, don't you? Neji will go in to the witness protection program, and you'll never see him again." Itachi's mouth twisted. "Don't do this, Shisui. You're only hurting yourself."

Itachi waited a moment, but when Shisui offered no response, he turned around and left.

Shisui smirked darkly when Itachi turned his back.

Itachi was only trying to help him-after all, he didn't know that because after meeting each other, Neji and Shisui had slept together causing Kidomaru to turn abusive on Neji.

Itachi didn't know that this whole mess was Shisui's fault in the first place.

**a/n**: You weren't expecting that ending were you? (Kudos to you if you were lol.) Honestly though, I can't ever imagine any relationship between Neji and Kidomaru being filled with angst…hm… Anyways, don't forget to review and I'll see ya next drabble! (Don't worry-the drabbles are fluffy again after this lol.)


	25. leaves naruneji

**a/n**: Hey everybody! I know that this update was a little slow, sorry. Anyways, this drabble has a ton of naruneji fluff…enjoy! (no warnings, disclaimer on my profile. Prepare for an onslaught of cuteness!)

Drabble 025: Leaves, Naruneji

Neji groaned and stretched his back; finally, after toiling over the front yard for _hours_, he had raked up every single leaf that had decided to rest in his uncle's front yard while they'd been skiing up in the mountains.

Neji beamed and headed towards the garage to put the rake in the shed. There was something incredibly satisfying about having a leaf-free yard.

He came out of the garage a few minutes later, only to find the leaves scattered all over the driveway! Neji's hands flew to his mouth in shock; who could have done this? Anyone passing by would have realized that he'd just raked everything together…

Neji was about to go back in to the garage to grab the rake, when the world exploded around him.

XXX

Neji groaned feebly and tried to sit up. A blonde teenager was kneeling beside him. "Uh…are you ok? You just sort of fainted."

"I'm ok." Neji propped himself on his elbows and shook his head dizzily. "What…what happened?"

At this, blonde boy looked sheepish. "Well…I sort of jumped in your leaf pile, so I was running around looking for…well, you, and then I when I actually saw you, I was running so fast that I crashed in to you and almost knocked you in to the pavement."

"Almost?" Neji sat up fully.

"Uh…yeah. I caught you."

"Oh." Neji flushed; the boy was really very handsome. "Thanks."

"I'm Naruto." There was an awkward pause, and Neji briefly wondered where the boy-no, _Naruto_, was from. He wasn't from school, and Neji had never seen him before in his life.

"Here-I'll rake those leaves up for you. Sorry about that." Naruto stood up and scratched the back of his head. "It just looked like too much fun, you know?"

"…Yeah…" Neji stood up and brushed his clothes off. "You know, it's ok; I can just do it myself."

"No way!" Naruto said insistently. "Let me make this up to you." Neji shook his head, and got Naruto a rake. "And what should I do while you rake leaves?"

"Sit here and talk to me!" Naruto grinned as he started gathering up the leaves on the sidewalk. Neji complied, and proceeded to learn a lot about Naruto. Apparently, he was home-schooled, but he still had a lot of friends, and he lived two blocks away.

After Naruto had finished, he handed the broom back to Neji. "Say…since I live close by, maybe we'll see each other again sometime?"

At that, Neji smiled shyly up at Naruto. "Sure…that would be nice."

Naruto grinned down at Neji. "Great! I'll try and stop by sometime." He paused for a moment, before blurting out "You know you're really cute right?" With that, Naruto took off down the street, leaving Neji in a happy, dazed state.

XXX

Kushina put a forkful of rice in to her mouth. "So, Naruto, how were things today?"

Naruto beamed. "I met the cutest boy ever! And he said he wants to see me again!"

Kushina laughed and pounded her husband on the back when he started spluttering. "Good job, Naruto. Minato honey, are you alright?"

Naruto continued eating, absolutely oblivious to the world.

**a/n**: Ahahaha, poor Minato lol. Anyways, don't forget to review, thanks for reading, and see ya next drabble!


	26. Hair shikaneji

**a/n**: Hey everybody! Sorry about the erratic updating *hides* Anyways, more shikaneji fluff and cuteness...enjoy!

Drabble 026: Hair, Shikaneji.

"Neji? Are you ok?" Shikamaru peered concernedly past the veil of brown hair in to the sleepy eyes of his boyfriend.

Neji swayed slightly before straightening up. "I'm fine," he reassured him. "Just…tired," he yawned.

"Why'd you stay up so late last night?"

Neji shot him an annoyed glance. "We had a chemistry test today. What was I supposed to do-wing it?"

"Yes, Mr. "A+". If you haven't been getting enough sleep lately, and you have enough wiggle room, you wing it," Shikamaru said pointedly. "You know, I'm not the only one who's been worried lately-Hinata, Ten-Ten-Hell, even _Naruto's_ noticed too."

"It's very sweet of you all," Neji sighed, "but I'm fine."

"Hmph." Shikamaru snorted, but let it drop. "Oh yeah-I have something to give you. Hold on a second." He stopped walking and started digging around in his backpack. "Oh, here it is!" Shikamaru stood up and thrust something in to Neji's hands before slinging his backpack back on and continuing down the street.

Neji stared blankly at the object in his hands. "…a headband?"

"Your hair is always hiding your face. I want to be able to see you without having to shove a forest of hair out of the way," Shikamaru said briskly.

Neji smiled slowly and stopped walking. He carefully slipped the headband in place. "Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru turned around. "Wha-Oh." Shikamaru lost his breath momentarily; Neji's face was so open-looking, and he was really much more handsome with his hair out of the way.

Neji beamed and skipped up next to his boyfriend. He interlaced their fingers and smiled up at him. "Do you like it?"

Shikamaru smirked before he started off again. "Of course I do. I picked it out for you, didn't I?"

Neji just smiled and laughed. Shikamaru didn't normally compliment him so obviously, and whenever he did, Neji got a special, warm feeling in his heart…even if Shikamaru acted like a grumpy bear for hours afterwards. "Do you want to go out for dinner today?"

Shikamaru grunted, and Neji held back a sigh. _Here we go…_

Neji braced himself for the emotional rollercoaster he was sure to embark in the evening.

**a/n:** Lol, poor Neji...look at what he has to deal with :) Thanks for reading, don't forget to review, and feel free to suggest a pairing!


	27. Interruption itaneji

**a/n**: Hey everyone! Thank you for all your reviews and support! (Over 40 reviews-woot! That happened a while ago, but it still needs recognition ahahaha.) Anyways, this is drabble 27…no warnings, disclaimer on my profile: enjoy!

Drabble 027: Itaneji; Interruption

Neji glanced around briefly before darting out the backdoor of the Hyuga mansion. He hurried along down the garden path until he reached a corner. Unsurprisingly, there was a tall, dark figure waiting for him.

"Are you alone?"

"Yes," Neji answered breathlessly. "I have a lantern if-"

"We won't need it," the other man said. Neji gasped when he was pulled in to the mysterious figure's chest.

"Itachi…" Neji nuzzled in to the smooth fabric of Itachi's suit jacket. They could only meet and acknowledge their relationship under the cover of night. Tonight had been especially opportune-the Hyugas were holding their annual charity fundraiser, and of course, all the other wealthy families (including the Uchiha) had been invited.

They stood in silence for a while, and even though Neji couldn't see his face, he knew that Itachi had that pensive look that meant he was remembering something.

"I missed you."

Neji smiled and tilted his face up. "I missed you too." Itachi bent down and brushed their lips together.

They both froze when they heard the unmistakable sound of approaching footsteps; their ears strained and their bodies tensed as they listened for signs of another solitary wanderer in the garden. Their eyes landed simultaneously on the beam of light on the hedge next to them.

Instantly, the couple sprang apart, and Neji ran soundlessly in the direction of the large fountain in the center of the garden. He didn't need to know that Itachi had taken off for the stone benches on the patio.

Well, it didn't matter if they'd been interrupted this time. Neji smirked slowly as he kicked at the ground near the base of the fountain.

After all, they were young-they had all the time in the world. Neji knew for sure that he would have an unannounced visitor tomorrow, long after everyone had gone to bed. Neji sighed in contentment before heading back to the party-and back to Itachi.

**a/n**: Short but sweet! Please don't forget to review, and I'll see ya next drabble ;)


	28. Iceskating AsuNeji

**a/n**: Hey everybody! Unfortunately, finals are coming up soon for me and so the drabbles have slowed down _a lot_. So, that means slow updating again, sorry guys!

Anyways, I was kind of weirded out by this one because it doesn't _really_ have a pairing, but I guess it sort of does…anyways, just clearing some plot bunnies out of my head. Enjoy!

Drabble 028: Skateboards Hidan/Neji?

Neji scowled; he was only here to watch Hidan at the stupid skateboarding competition, but people kept pinching his ass or trying to get his number! Neji glared fiercely at the sea of people trying to reach him, and he was pleased when they all backed off immediately. Neji resisted the urge to rub his sore backside, knowing that it would just encourage his crowd of admirers, and turned to the arena.

Neji smiled fondly as he thought of how hard Hidan had worked to prepare for the competition; it was a high-level, intensive test of skill, and if Hidan could place in the top ten of the tournament, he was gain some international fame in the world of skateboarders as well as gain some money.

Neji cheered for Hidan when he went, and Neji was pleased to see Hidan pull of an utterly flawless performance. Neji sighed and sat back on his picnic blanket-he knew that Hidan would find him in five minutes after changing out of his sweaty clothes.

To Neji's surprise, a boy with round glasses and longish silver hair plopped down on the blanket beside him.

"Um…excuse me," Neji said uncertainly. "Are you…?"

The boy looked over and grinned at him smugly. "I'm Kabuto Yakushi," he said with a holier-than-thou look. "Do you mind if I sit over here?"

Neji raised an eyebrow; Kabuto had gone earlier in the competition. Neji vaguely remembered being mildly impressed; now, any amicable feelings towards the boy vanished. "I do mind," Neji said hotly. "Find somewhere else to sit!"

Neji squeaked in surprise when Kabuto leaned over, entirely destroying Neji's space bubble. (Anyone who knew Neji knew that above all thing, he valued his personal space.) "I don't think I'll find another place to sit." Neji felt his face heat up when Kabuto put a hand on his leg. Neji gasped Kabuto put his hand on his lap, and Neji shoved him away.

Kabuto got to his feet snarling. "You little bitch, I'll-"

"You'll what?" Neji breathed a sigh of relief when Hidan appeared on the scene, standing threateningly over his body. "Get the fuck away from Neji." Kabuto turned a nasty shade of white and scampered away, vanishing in to the crowd.

Neji glomped Hidan. "You're a life-saver."

"That guy's an ass," Hidan responded before gently removing Neji from his shoulder. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine." Neji rubbed his shoulders and shivered before nestling in to Hidan's side. "Ah, Hidan…what would I do without you?"

"You'd get raped," Hidan said shortly, his eyes intent on the next competitor.

Neji choked on his soda. "_What_? You mean…he was…he wanted to…"

Hidan nodded.

Neji wrinkled his nose. "Eww…eww, eww, eww! That's gross Hidan!"

Hidan laughed. "Lucky for you, I came right in the nick of time."

Neji punched him in the shoulder. "I'm not a damsel in distress."

The two friends continued to bicker, completely unaware of the sad pairs of the many spurned teens in the crowd.

**a/n**: So…like I said, no real pairing. I intended for Hidan and Neji just to be friends in this one. Kabuto is such a creep lol! Anyways, don't forget to review, thank you for reading, and I'll see you next drabble!


	29. pet shop kibaneji

**a/n**: Hey everybody! Thanks for the reviews :) Anyways, this is drabble 30…I'm actually surprised by how many drabbles I've written! Anyways, no warnings, disclaimer on my profile…enjoy the fluff!

Drabble 030: KibaNeji/Pet Shop

Kiba looked up disinterestedly as the bell to his sister's pet store rang out through silence. He was just chilling at the shop because, honestly, he didn't have anything better to do on a Monday morning.

His eyebrows shot up when a gorgeous, brown-haired man cautiously stepped through the doorway. Kiba got off his cardboard box behind the counter and moved towards the door. "Good morning! How can I help you?"

The man smiled charmingly at him. "I was wondering if this store sells ferrets."

Kiba nearly stopped walking. _Ferrets? Who wants a __**ferret**__ as a pet?_ "Um…no, I don't think so, sorry."

At that moment, Hana Inuzuka popped out from the back room. "Oh, a customer! How can I help you?"

Neji turned towards her and smiled again. "I was wondering if this store sells ferrets."

Hana stopped dead, a dumbfounded expression on her face. "…Excuse me?"

At this, the man raised an eyebrow. "…Clearly, you don't sell them here. Sorry for taking up your time."

"No, wait!" Hana burst out. "Actually, we do have one ferret." Hana started weaving around pet cages, and Neji followed her. "I don't suppose you've to other pet stores around here Mr…?"

"Hyuga," the man said breezily. "Neji Hyuga. Neji is just fine, thanks."

Kiba followed them with interest. Why had his sister been so surprised when Neji asked about the ferrets? As a matter of fact, he was fairly sure that Hana didn't sell ferrets in the first place.

"I don't suppose you've been to other pet stores around here then, Neji?"

Neji smiled and nodded. "They mentioned that you had a certain ferret. I was interested." Hana pulled to a stop in front of a large cage covered in a dull, grey cloth.

Hana raised an eyebrow, but pulled the cover off the cage. "Well, as you can see, he's not the most prettiest of specimens." And Hana spoke the truth-the ferret was fairly large with dull grey fur and a huge scar running across his left eye.

Neji's eyes softened. "Is he blind in his left eye?"

Hana's eyes softened as well. "He's blind in both eyes-by the time the owners took him to the vet, infection had spread to his right eye as well."

After a few moments, Neji straightened up. "I'll take him."

Hana blinked in surprise, but led Neji back to the front of the shop for paperwork while Kiba stared dumbfounded at the ugly creature. What was it about the ferret that had caused Neji to decide to buy him so suddenly? Kiba shook his head and ambled back to the front of the store. "Hey, sis-I'm heading out for today." Hana mumbled something unintelligible in response, which Kiba took for her ok. He nodded at Neji and headed out the door, whistling merrily.

He knew that his sister had he'd seen the look he'd shot at her over his shoulder while Neji scanned over the various forms. He knew that she would conveniently "forget" something important for Neji's ferret, and that she'd send him over to give it to Neji.

Kiba smirked and hopped on his bike before pedaling down the street.

He still had another try with the Hyuga, even if this time hadn't been successful.

**a/n**: Lol, Neji has weird taste in pets. I thought that Kiba, being the dog person that he is, wouldn't really understand ferrets which is why I kind of played up on that. anyways, let me know what you thought, and I'll see you next drabble!


	30. Butterfly sasuneji

**a/n:** Hey guys! Sorry for the late updates…its finals week at my school, so I've been studying for a madwoman. Also, because of this, the drabbles have slowed down quite a bit, so updates will still be slow. I'm sorry! (By the way-over fifty reviews! Thank you all soooooo much!)

Anyways, about this drabble: I actually managed to write some sasuneji fluff! I actually feel mildly accomplished because before, it just wouldn't happen. Anyways, enjoy!

Drabble 031: Butterfly, Sasuneji.

Neji raised his camera and snapped a picture of the butterfly lighting down on a lilac flower in the butterfly house at Marine World. He was here on a school fieldtrip, but honestly could you blame him? The butterfly house had really nice specimens. Satisfied, Neji tucked his camera in to his bag and left the attraction.

Unfortunately, he didn't leave unnoticed. Sasuke raised an eyebrow and blocked Neji from walking past him. "I didn't know you liked butterflies, Hyuga."

Neji raised an eyebrow. "…" Not bothering to respond, he tried to move past Sasuke.

Then, a very strange thing happened.

Sasuke firmly seized Neji by the shoulders and pulled him in to a rough kiss before releasing him and striding away.

Neji stared, one hand over his heart, the other hand touching his lips. "What…?" he murmured. He was pulled out of his reverie by the sounds of a large group of squealing girls making their way towards the exhibit. He quickly scampered away, back towards the main area of the park before heading off to find his cousin. He knew that she would like to see his pictures; he straightened up and allowed his shoulders to relax. The incident had either been a hallucination, and if it wasn't, Sasuke had probably just been playing a prank on him. Neji hurried off, back in to the sunshine, and allowed the kiss to slide deep in to the back of his mind, hopefully never to be unearthed again.

XXX

Neji had successfully _not_ thought about what had transpired on the fieldtrip for a good two weeks, until the mysterious gifts started arriving on the doorstep. Neji came home from school one day and found a small box with his name on it. He picked it up before stepping inside; he didn't dare open it before he reached the privacy of his room, though. He kicked his shoes off and headed in to the kitchen, grabbed something to eat, and then fled in to his room.

He carefully untied the neat, purple bow and lifted the lid of the box. He blinked in surprise when he saw a small purple butterfly encased in a globe of glass and liquid preservative. Neji cautiously lifted the fragile object to the light and smiled softly-it really was very pretty. He carefully placed on top of his bookshelf before checking the box. There wasn't any kind of tag on the box.

"Strange…" Neji murmured softly before shaking his head and getting up to do his homework. Every once in a while, though, he would catch himself staring at his little butterfly globe.

XXX

The gifts kept coming. Neji received a notebook, a stack of pictures, ribbons, and all manner of objects. This went on for about a month or so when Neji finally decided to put a stop to it all. On a Friday evening, he hurried home in an attempt to catch the mysterious gift-giver in the act. Instead, he was surprised to see…

"Sasuke?" Neji stopped and blinked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Sasuke pushed himself off the doorpost he'd been leaning on. "I dropped by to give you something."

"Give me something?" Neji cocked his head to the side.

Sasuke nodded and stepped forward, and Neji felt an impending sense of déjà vu when Sasuke gently pulled him forward and started kissing him.

Neji wasn't quite sure how long they stood there (honestly, he was too focused on the kiss), but unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

The two boys sprang apart when someone politely coughed behind them. Hiashi Hyuga raised an eyebrow at his blushing nephew. "Neji, is there something you have to tell me?"

"No sir!" Neji blurted out. He realized his mistake when Hiashi's eyebrows nearly disappeared beneath his hairline. "I mean-yes, but…no not really…um!"

Sasuke took the ensuing chaos as his chance to escape from the house before Neji's uncle flayed him alive. He chuckled as he jogged away from the house-he was looking forward to kissing Neji a lot more... Although, for some reason, he always got a kick out of freaking out Hiashi Hyuga. That may or may not have had something to do with the hilarious facial expressions that ensued.

Sasuke started sprinting when he heard heavy footsteps closing in on him. He couldn't help laughing when he finally lost the poor man-he was stooped over next to a stop sign, and he looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

He did feel a slight twinge of disappointment when he remembered the final gift he was going to have given Neji…he pulled out a small butterfly ring from his pocket and smirked at the cheesy message attatched.

_Be mine?_

**a/n**: So…cute, huh? Anyways, thanks for reading and don't forget to review…see ya next drabble!


	31. pumpkin pie itaneji

**a/n**: I actually wrote this around Thanksgiving, but didn't have time to post it lol. I for one, love pumpkin pie, but my family is quite small so I've never really encountered Neji's problem, and find this to be a highly unlikely solution. No warnings, prepare for endless fluff, disclaimer on my profile…enjoy!

Drabble 032: Pumpkin Pie, Itaneji

Neji opened the refrigerator and stared at the dismaying contents-his uncle, as the head of the Hyuga family, hosted Thanksgiving dinner every year. And every year, after every guest was gone, and despite having sent every little family within the clan off with five pounds of food, half their refrigerator was _still _cluttered with tupperwares of food.

Neji sighed as he looked at the cluttered mass. No one in his extensive family was a huge fan of pumpkin pie, and yet his uncle _insisted_ that Neji make about ten pies or so every year. They'd managed to cart off quite a few, but there were still three left over. Neji brightened as he suddenly hit on an idea-he could take some to his teachers on Monday! Considerably cheered up, Neji set about packaging up the sweets-all that was left to do was think about who to take the sweets to…

XXX

Neji nervously fiddled with the large paper bag for a moment before approaching his math teacher's desk. "Mr. Uchiha…"

Uchiha Itachi looked up from his desk. "Oh-Neji," he said warmly. "How can I help you?"

Neji smiled nervously. "Um…well, I had a lot of left over pie, and I was wondering if you wanted some…you must know how it is, given your own family," Neji said nervously.

Itachi smiled kindly at him. "Sure, I'll take some." He leaned back and stretched in his chair. "How was your family dinner?"

Neji shuddered as he moved around Itachi's desk so that he could put his paper bag down. "Awful. My aunt still hasn't gotten over the fact that I served her the wrong plate of potatoes three years ago."

Itachi snorted. "Something of a similar nature happened for me as well. It's amazing how _fussy_ people can be at times." He put out his hand and beckoned Neji forward.

Neji complied and bent down to give Itachi a quick kiss before drawing away shyly. The classroom was empty except for them, and there was no one walking past that could look through the window.

Itachi absently started smoothing Neji's hair in between his fingers. "You'll have to come to the Uchiha Thanksgiving dinner next year. Mother's beginning to grow curious as to who I so constantly shower my affections upon."

Neji smiled warmly down at Itachi, but his words held a hint of warning. "I doubt she would be pleased to find out that it is I who you seem to care for."

"Seem to?" Itachi echoed. "I _do_ care for you very much, Neji. And need I remind you that my mother is ten years younger than my father?"

Neji just shook his head. "It'll have to wait until after I graduate," he said firmly. "I won't even consider it until then."

Itachi shook his head and let the matter drop. "Ever the pragmatist," he murmured. He pressed a gently kiss to Neji's hair before releasing the silken strands in favor of Neji's hand. "What would I do without you?"

Neji just smiled and laughed. At least Itachi would actually _enjoy_ the pie-Neji had taken advantage of his sweet tooth more than once during several similar occasions.

**a/n**: Thanks for reading! Also, for all of my lovely readers who are up to date with the most recent chapter of the manga, I've written a piece dedicated to Neji for the events surrounding chapter 614. Feel free to take a look and review! Anyways, don't forget to review this chapter lol, hope you all are having a good holiday, and I'll see you next drabble!


	32. Demon kidomaruneji

**a/n**: Hey everyone! This is a little horror one-shot. Just remember…this is why you don't go out in to the night with strangers!

Anyways, warnings: weird supernatural stuff. It's really not the scary—just weird, lol. I really need to branch out with the pairings. Anyways, enjoy!

Drabble 033: Demon, Kidomaru/Neji

Neji flirtatiously bumped his hips in to the tan, cocky man with a spiky black ponytail leaning against the bar. "Oops!"

The man caught Neji by the hips and set him back on his feet. Neji shivered when the man's hands didn't leave his hips, and instead starting rubbing sensual circles on his hips. "Are you alright?" the man smirked confidently at Neji. "I'm Kidomaru."

Neji fought the urge to squirm-_damn_ did Kidomaru have talented fingers! "I'm Neji, and I'm fine thank you." He smiled sweetly and slipped out of Kidomaru's hold to plop down on a barstool beside the man.

What happened after that was sort of a blur. Kidomaru bought Neji a drink, and they chatted for a couple of hours. Afterwards, they left the bar and wandered around town until they found a small bench in a lively park where they made out for a while.

At some point, they broke apart. "Wanna come to my place?" Kidomaru rasped, his breath fast and hurried.

Neji allowed himself to be pulled away from the park, and he fought down the rising excitement flowing through his body. He was light-headed from the drink he'd had, in addition to lack of oxygen, so he mindlessly followed the insistent pull from Kidomaru's warm hands.

Neji frowned when he realized that Kidomaru had tugged him in to a secluded, dark alley. Neji realized that they must be quite far away from the park because he couldn't hear any late-night partying college students. A small sliver of cold, scared reason started working through his brain.

Kidomaru seemed to have sensed Neji's doubt because he captured his mouth in a hot, messy kiss that left Neji breathless. Neji wound his arms around Kidomaru's neck in attempt to keep his balance, and he was surprised when he felt smooth, sensual skin turn tough and wrinkled beneath his fingertips. He brushed it off, but when hands wound in to white, coarse, stringy hair, Neji shoved Kidomaru away from him and closed his eyes. He opened them again, and screamed in terror when he saw the terrifying eight-limbed demon leering down at him in the alley. Neji turned around and ran away as fast as he could, screaming the whole time.

Kidomaru cursed when he heard people heading towards the source of the scream. He hauled himself away on his spider-like limbs while inwardly berating himself. Neji had looked like such a delicious morsel…

Kidomaru scuttled off in to the shadows while a group of cautious men armed with guns rounded the corner.

It seemed as if he would go hungry tonight.

**a/n**: Aw, poor Neji. At least he got away though! Anyways, thanks for reading, don't forget to review, and I'll see y'all next drabble!


	33. Double Date shisuineji

**a/n**: Hey everyone! I hope y'all enjoy some shisui/neji goodness. No warnings...on to the story!

Drabble 034: Shisui/Neji Double Date

Itachi stared at Shisui. "You want to _what_?"

"I said, 'let's go on a double date'," Shisui said patiently. "Come on, Itachi, it'll be fun!"

"Except…for the fact that I am undeniably and irrevocably single," Itachi ground out. "Find someone else."

Shisui looked disappointed. "But-"

"No," Itachi said firmly before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

Shisui sighed and scowled. "Touchy," he muttered under his breath. In hindsight, he really should have been more sensitive though-Itachi had just gone through a terrible break-up with Sakura who'd been cheating on him behind his back.

"Who else could I ask…" he pondered.

XXX

"Gaara-"

"No."

"Shikamaru-"

"Troublesome."

"Hell, _Asuma-_"

"No way."

"Chouji?"

"Busy."

"Ten-Ten-"

"Back off you man-stealing…manizer!" Shisui gaped after her while she stormed off. Apparently, she was still pissed that Neji had turned her down _ages_ ago.

He jumped slightly when someone laid a hand on his shoulder. "Shisui? What are you doing?"

Shisui turned around with a guilty smile. "I was trying to get someone to go on a double date with us, but no one seems to want to come along."

Neji raised an eyebrow at Ten-Ten's retreating back. "What did you do to _her_?"

Shisui raised his hands placatingly. "Nothing, honest! She's just a little grumpy, that's all. You know how it is."

Neji looked unconvinced, but let it rest. "Shisui, it doesn't matter. Did it ever occur to you that we could go out to lunch…by ourselves?"

Shisui cringed, and then tried to cover it up. "Um…well, yes, that thought did occur to me," he said weakly.

Neji narrowed his eyes. "My uncle said something, didn't he?"

"No, not at all!" Shisui laughed and hastily tried to divert Neji's attention. "You know, instead of lunch, maybe we can go walk down by the river-"

"Are you insisting on finding a double date because Hiashi-sama suspects your intentions?"

"No, no it's not that at all! Well, partially, but not really…"

"Which is it, Shisui?" Neji's face sharpened in impatience at his boyfriend's antics.

"…It was Hinata, ok? Do you have any idea how scary she gets?" Shisui whined. "I couldn't say no to her when she was threatening to tear my beating heart out of my chest and eat with her bare hands!"

Neji watched him with an air of bemusement. "…She did what?"

Shisui flailed his arms around himself. "She did! Really! Laugh all you want, but she did."

Neji sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "…Go home, Shisui. Our date for tomorrow is off."

Shisui wilted. "Are you angry with me?"

"No, of course not!" Neji placed a gentle hand on Shisui's face. "I never could be. We'll just have to reschedule…I have an errand to run."

"Alright." Shisui placed his hands over Neji's briefly before turning away. "I'll see you back at the apartment."

"Yeah, see you." Neji waited until Shisui was out of sight before punching the wall so hard his knuckles bled. Why did he have to deal with such overprotective family members all the time?

XXX

_The following Thursday…_

Shisui gulped and eyed the ferocious look Hinata sent his way. "Are you sure this was a good idea?" he muttered out of the side of his mouth.

"There wasn't any other choice," Neji murmured. "Once she sees that your intentions are perfectly fine, this will all be over."

"Doesn't she know that we _live together_ though?"

"Hinata thinks I'll be a virgin until I'm an old maid at fifty years old," Neji sighed softly. "Even I don't understand her sometimes."

Shisui chucked and leaned over to kiss to Neji's cheek; instead, he jerked back just in time to avoid the hypothetical laser beam of light shooting out of Hinata's eyes. He cringed and resisted the urge to hold Neji's hand underneath the table cloth. After all, Hinata could see through solid objects, and from the glare he was receiving, he figured it wasn't even worth trying.

Finally, the horrible dinner was over, Hinata had neatly been shoved out the door, and Shisui and Neji lay in bed. Shisui sighed and tugged Neji's sleeping form a little closer in contentment.

He sighed, happy in the knowledge that no matter who came between them be it friends or family, Neji would always choose him in the end.

**a/n**: So, that's that! Thanks for reading, don't forget to review, and I'll see you next drabble!


	34. Fury Naruneji

**a/n**: Hey everyone! THIS DRABBLE HAS SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 610! IF YOU'RE NOT UP TO DATE IN THE MANGA, DON'T KEEP READING!

This piece is a special request from Stormie 100, and is a tribute to Neji. Warnings: Sadness, character death and Hinata reacting the way she should've in the manga. Note that the story begins right after Neji is impaled.

Enjoy!

Drabble 035: Naruneji; Fury

Naruto stared in shock, but his shock quickly turned to anger. "Why did you do that?!" he shouted desperately, resisting the urge to shake the mortally wounded Hyuga in his arms. "Why would you…?" He broke off, and fought not to cry.

Neji smiled wearily. "Your life is not your own." Neji begged him with his eyes. _Understand_, he pleaded. He was too tired to speak much, but Naruto had to understand. He had to understand that he alone was the glue that bound the Shinobi Alliance together, and that in the end, he would be the one who would defeat the corrupt Uchiha.

Neji turned his pained gaze on Hinata, and feebly tried to lift his arm from his side to catch her tears. In the end, he settled with twitching slightly, which only caused Naruto to hold him tighter. He shook his head when Naruto began to shouting for a medic; he knew it was too late.

"Naruto."

Naruto turned his face down to look at him, and Neji felt his life flash before his eyes. He saw himself as a small child in the arms of his father, then an angry teenager. Then, he began to accept his fate after he met Naruto, and a small secret smile came to his face as every moment of their secretive courtship flashed through his mind. His eyes met Naruto's, and he knew Naruto was remembering everything as well.

He remembered their last kiss, which had been long, long ago when Naruto had left for 'special training' before the war. They had only met again just now, and Neji felt tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. However, he felt glad that the only thing he regretted from his life was that he hadn't found Naruto sooner and given him a proper kiss farewell.

"I love you," he whispered. He doubted Naruto could hear him, but he had to leave him one last gift before he left. Neji struggled to reach up and touch Naruto's face, but his hand wouldn't obey his command, and he settled with a final, loving stare at Naruto before he felt his soul leave his body and drift away to the afterlife.

Naruto let out an anguished howl, and Hinata sobbed behind him. Hinata straightened up and glared when Obito Uchiha began to address them. How _dare_ he-how dare he, killer of Neji, have the nerve to address them in such a manner? She turned on Naruto and slapped him on the face.

"Don't give up hope!" she shouted. _Damn you, this is what Neji was trying to tell you when he left! _"Do you want to make his sacrifice worthless?" she snarled. "Don't give up hope!" she slipped her hand in to his, and watched, relieved, as Naruto staggered to his feet.

Naruto straightened up, and allowed the warmth of Hinata's hands to steady him. _She's all of Neji that you have left_. He stood up and glared at Obito with the full fury of the Shinobi Alliance's grief over Neji's death in his gaze.

_I will end you._ He leapt in to battle with furious determination.

**a/n**: And right after they got back together ***sniffle* **Anyways, I've also written another piece in honor of Neji called 'Closure' if you want to check it out. It also has shipping lol.

Anyways, thanks for reading, don't forget to review, and I'll see you next drabble!


	35. Sweater Gaaneji

Drabble 036: Sweater, Gaara/Neji

Neji burst through the door of his math class and collapsed in to his desk just as the bell rang.

His boyfriend raised a non-existent eyebrow from the desk behind him. "Why were you so late?"

Neji grimaced. "Hanabi decided she wanted to take a morning shower, but then she ended up making everyone late," he said as he started rummaging through his backpack for pencils and his notebook to start taking notes.

"Mr. Hyuuga, please pay attention in class," Neji's math teacher, Mr. Uchiha, snapped from the whiteboard.

"Yes, sir." Neji bowed his head in obedience and began to studiously take notes off the whiteboard. Gaara cringed behind him—he hated it when Neji got in trouble with . partially because it was incredibly easy to see that Mr. Uchiha was attracted to Neji, but also because Neji would sit there and take without saying a harsh word to Gaara.

XXX

Gaara strolled over to the picnic benches where his friends and he usually ate lunch. "Hey."

"Gaara!" Gaara was nearly blown over by the screech that greeted his ears. Naruto didn't bother waiting for Gaara, and instead bowled him over before he could sit down properly. "Have you felt Neji's sweater?

Gaara responded him by sending his _Are you an idiot? _look at Naruto.

Naruto decided to ignore the glare being leveled at him and continued on. "It's really soft! You have to feel it!" Naruto dragged Gaara on to his feet and dumped next to Neji who looked embarrassed. Nevertheless, Neji leaned over and kissed Gaara's cheek in greeting.

Gaara blinked in surprise when his hand brushed over Neji's knit sweater. _Wow…that is really soft_.Neji looked over at him in surprise when Gaara kept his arm around Neji's waist for all of lunch, and on their way to back to class.

Later, after they parted ways, Neji smirked himself. If it meant more contact with Gaara, he was definitely going to have to start wearing that sweater more often.


	36. Rain

**a/n: **Hey everyone! Anyways, there's no real pairing in this...iruka and Neji are just the main characters involved. Enjoy!

Drabble 037: Rain, IrukaNeji

Neji exited the academy gates and stared up at the cloudy sky. Out on the streets, people rubbed their arms nervously, or tugged at their clothing. The air was ripe with tension for rain; no birds could be heard singing, and no animals, not even a single stray cat, could be seen out on the streets.

Neji shrugged and started walking home; he was used to this kind of tension. It was a constant, back at the compound, especially during family dinners. Neji shuddered slightly at the thought, but then stopped when he felt a drop of water hit his nose. He tilted his head back up towards the sky, and rain started pouring down on him.

All around him, people ran for cover in restaurants, merchant stalls, shops, or in their houses. However, Neji remained where he was, standing in the middle of the street with his face tilted up towards the sky. Hair streamed down his face, soaking his clothes, hair, and skin. Neji wasn't quite sure how long he stayed like that, until a black umbrella encroached on his view of the sky, and a warm hand landed on his shoulder.

"Neji. You should head for cover." Neji looked up in to the kind face of his teacher.

"Hello Umino-sensei."

"How long have you been out in the rain?"

Neji thought for a moment. "I don't know."

Iruka shook his head. "Well, you should head home. You'll catch a cold if you stay out too long." Iruka peered at the sky from beneath his umbrella. "What were you thinking about, while you were standing out here?"

Neji hesitated for a moment. "My father used to tell me that when it rained, it meant that the spirits in the afterlife were crying."

"Ah. You wonder if your father is one of the crying spirits then?"

Neji didn't respond.

Iruka sighed and squeezed Neji's shoulder. "I think that, if your father is crying, it's not because of you, Neji."

Neji glanced at him briefly before turning his attention back to the skies.

Iruka tried again. "You know, I also was an orphan from a young age. If you ever need to talk, you can come find me."

Neji's lips tilted upwards. "Thank you, sensei."

Iruka squeezed Neji's shoulder again before letting him go. "Here—you take my umbrella and go home."

"Won't you get wet?"

Iruka smiled. "When you get older, you'll learn some neat tricks that help you get around," he winked. "I'll see you tomorrow in class, Neji."

"Yes, sir." Neji obediently accepted the umbrella, and watched his sensei make a series of hand signals before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Later that night, as Iruka sat grading papers, his mind wandered back to the incident with Neji. He shook his head and sighed; he already knew that no matter how much he pushed, his student would never bother to seek him out.


	37. Art Fair akatsukineji

**a/n**: Hey everyone! Thank you for all your lovely reviews! (over ninety reviews—good heavens!) Anyways, I'm not really sure if this drabble makes sense or not…I'll explain at the end, and if it still doesn't make sense, let me know. Disclaimer on my profile, no warnings…enjoy!

Drabble 038: Art Fair, AkatsukiNeji

Neji frowned and pulled out a crumpled flier from his pocket. His art teacher was offering his art history class if they attended an art fair that was going on this weekend. It was supposed to be all sorts of artists coming to exhibit and sell works.

Honestly, Neji was looking forward to it. He enjoyed art, and he enjoyed learning about it. He was going to meet up with a couple of friends, hang around the fair for a bit and then head out to lunch. Neji edged his way out of the crowded subway car and out on to the platform before pulling out his phone. He raised an elegant eyebrow when he saw that Shikamaru had sent him a text.

_Where are you?_

Neji chuckled—Shikamaru was always worried about his safety. _Be there in five minutes. Coming off the subway now._ Neji sent the text and started up the stairs that would take him to the rest of the world.

XXX

Neji pulled his coat tighter around himself and shivered. Shikamaru looked over at him and laid a comforting hand on his arm. "Just one more group left, and then we can head somewhere warm."

Neji smiled warmly at Shikamaru. "Thanks." Sometimes, he wasn't too sure about what his friend's feelings were for him, and it frightened him a little.

Ten-Ten looked at the elaborate black and red design on the final group's board. "Akatsuki—red moon? Weird name for a studio."

As odd as the name was, their artwork was stunning. A group of seven or so students sat by displays of various works of their art; the students were all in the late teens. One man, Kakuzu, had a display of tribal masks while another, Hidan, showed off his religious works of art. There was a puppet display, an optical illusions display, and an explosives exhibit as well. Neji tilted his head to the side as he viewed a mobile decorated with various origami forms.

A young woman with a flower in her hair sat beneath the mobile. "Which is your favorite one?"

Neji jumped. "I beg your pardon?"

The woman smiled faintly. "My name is Konan, and I made this display. Which origami is your favorite?"

"My name is Hyuga Neji; it's nice to meet you. And…" Neji frowned slightly. "I'd say the crow is my favorite one, although the scythe does look…interesting."

Konan made a small mark in a notebook on her lap. "I'm seeing which ones people tend to like. You're the first person to choose the crow. I have to say…you chose wisely." Konan smiled up at him.

"Oh? Well, I'm glad. Your art is really amazing," Neji said earnestly. "I'm here for an art history class…it's inspiring to get to see what people get up to with their art these days."

"I'm glad you're enjoying the exhibition." Konan smiled up at him serenely. "Good luck with your art history class."

Neji smiled. "Thanks!" He glanced back over his shoulder as he hurried away. He wasn't sure what, but something had been strange about that woman.

Konan's eyes narrowed as she watched Neji go. When he was out of sight, she quietly took a white square of origami paper out of her notebook and began to fold the paper in to a dove.

XXX

In the evening, after the art exhibit had been torn down, the students from the Akatsuki studio crowded around Konan and her notebook.

"I have to say, this really didn't quite turn out how I imagined." Konan tucked her origami flower securely in to place behind her ear before continuing. "Only a couple of people liked the crow, Itachi-kun."

Itachi chuckled. "I'm not too surprised. I don't get along well with everyone."

Konan's smile turned mischevious. "However…most people liked the dove next to the crow. They said it had a 'good contrast'."

"The dove?" Itachi looked at Konan's mobile and was surprised to find several new origami additions to the work of art. "Who does the dove represent?"

"There was a boy with pale eyes who wandered over here. He did seem a bit young though…" Konan pondered.

"What was his name?"

"Hyuga Neji; he said he was here for an art history class." Konan's lips quirked in doubt. "Will you bother?"

Itachi frowned. "More often than not, your strange occult origami seems to be relatively accurate…it's worth a try."

"I think he signed one of the studio's mailing lists." Konan pulled out a black binder a cardboard box and handed it to Itachi. "Have fun!"

The rest of the Akatsuki began to jostle around Konan, now that she'd interpreted Itachi's outcome. Meanwhile though, Itachi wandered over to a park bench and began to flip through the black binder, his eyes zooming down the pages until he found the name he was looking for.

_Hyuga Neji._

Itachi's lips quirked upwards. Even if he knew absolutely nothing about Neji, he had to admit…the other boy's name had a nice ring to it.

**a/n**: So…basically, Konan made origami animals to represent different people, and then she used her occult origami skills to decide whether or not the Akatsuki should meet people who had come by the art fair. I don't know, but this idea randomly popped in to my head…I feel like this didn't come out as clearly as I wanted to, but I gave it my best.

Anyways, thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave a review on your way out! See y'all next drabble


	38. Gunman Sasuneji

**a/n**: Hey everybody! This is a sasuneji drabble filled with fluff and has some extremely minor violence. It's also absolutely unrealistic to the extreme. Enjoy!

Drabble 039: Gunman, Sasuneji

Neji's head jerked up when someone slammed through the door of the classroom. He bit back a scream when he saw that a man, dressed in all black with a mask over his face, had a gun leveled at his teacher.

"Everyone, get out of your desks and stand by the window!" the man barked. The students scurried to comply while sending terrified glances at their teacher, Mr. Umino. Neji felt a twinge of surprise when he saw that Mr. Umino seemed to be quite calm, and his eyes were narrowed in concentration, as if he was searching for something. Once the students were lined up neatly at the window, the gunman lashed out and hit Mr. Umino over the head with his gun. Several girls shrieked, and some students moved for the door, but the intruder leveled his weapon at the students once more.

"No one leaves until I say so. Understand?" he grunted. The students nodded meekly, and the gunman began to pace up and down the row of students.

"Which one of you is Hyuga Neji?"

Neji's breath caught in his throat. He stared at the ground, and began to pray. _Oh god, don't give me away, __**please**__ don't give me away—_

Neji's eyes widened slightly when he saw his teacher's leg twitch slightly. _Oh god—Mr. Umino's still awake? He must be in a lot of pain…_

"I _said_, which one of you is Hyuga Neji?" the gunman's voice took on an ominous tone. One of the girls sniffled, and the intruder spun on them. "Do you know who he is?" suddenly, the gunman pointed the barrel of the gun straight at one of the girls' heads. "Which one is he?"

The girl sniffled and shook her head. "I-I don't know!"

The gunman pressed the barrel of his gun harshly in to her head. "Tell me. I will pull the trigger if you don't."

Neji's head jerked up. He didn't know what the intruder wanted with him, but he couldn't let his innocent classmates get hurt. "Wait! I'm Hyuga Neji, don't hurt her _please_!"

At that moment, several things happened at once. As the gunman turned around to face Neji, Mr. Umino surged to his feet and tackled the intruder. Several students screamed as the two adults grappled on the floor, but it didn't take long for nearly all the students to run out the door screaming for help.

Neji stayed where he was, terrified and transfixed by the sight of his teacher and the gunman grappling on the ground. He was jolted out of his haze by his classmate, Sasuke Uchiha, running back in to the classroom. "Jesus Christ—Neji, why are you still here? Come _on_!" He seized Neji's hand and together, they ran out the door and down the hallway.

They'd barely made it out the door when they heard a thud and a grunt come out of the classroom. Then, the sounds of heavy footsteps filled the air; Neji felt his heart sink. Those footsteps were almost certainly didn't belong to Mr. Umino. He turned to Sasuke in a panic. "What do we do?" he hissed.

Sasuke looked frozen, but then his eyes lit on a supply closet. He threw the door open and shoved Neji inside before clambering over various boxes and quietly closing the door. He kept both hands on the doorknob, holding it closed from the inside.

The closet was bursting with supplies, and Neji's body was pressed against his back. He felt Neji's hands fist in the back of his shirt, and he felt his legs lock as he braced himself against the door.

Both boys released heavy sighs of relief when the footsteps hurried past their door and down the hallway without even bothering to check the closet. "Do you have your phone with you?" Sasuke whispered in to the darkness.

"Yes." Neji released Sasuke's shirt. "I'll call 911." While Neji made the call, Sasuke stood at full attention, listening for any signs that the intruder might be coming back up the hallway. Neji spoke quietly in to the phone at intervals while they waited for help to arrive.

Suddenly, Sasuke stiffened. "Shit—Neji, get off the phone."

"Is he coming back?" Neji breathed fearfully.

"Yes."

Neji panicked and disconnected the call. Hopefully, help was being sent, but for now, they couldn't risk being heard.

Neji's pulse drummed in his ears and drowned out all the sound around him save for the heavy footsteps coming closer and closer to their hiding place. Neji shut his eyes and began to pray; he felt Sasuke's shoulders tense in front of him, and he nearly screamed when a harsh voice sounded right outside the door.

"This is the police! If there is anyone in this hallway, reveal yourselves right now."

Even though Neji couldn't see, he knew that he and Sasuke shared the same suspcions. What if the man on the other side of the door wasn't actually the police, but the gunman himself? However, they both relaxed when they heard multiple sets of footsteps start down the hallway. Sasuke relaxed his arms and cautiously opened the door, where he was met by the sight of a battalion of police officers. He turned back to Neji. "Neji its fine—come on out." Neji shakily followed him out of the closet, and listened vaguely as Sasuke began explaining their situation to the police officers. Someone had a hold of his hand and was leading him down the stairs, but right now, Neji was too scared to care.

XXX

_Later that day…_

Neji and his classmates were seated in the office as they waited for their parents to come pick them up. After a while, Neji and Sasuke were the only ones left waiting, as their parents had a long commute to get through to come get them.

"Sasuke."

"Hm?" Sasuke looked over at Neji in surprise; they'd spent a good two hours sitting in pensive silence.

"Um…thank you. For pulling me out of there and hiding us in the closet." Neji flushed. "I don't really know what would've happened if you hadn't been there to snap me out of it."

"Your welcome."

"You know, I probably owe you my life now," Neji murmured softly.

"Yeah, well…" Sasuke shifted slightly; he wasn't too sure how he felt about having someone indebted to him in such a way.

"Thanks," Neji muttered softly. Sasuke looked over at him for a moment before reaching out and squeezing his hand briefly.

Somehow, deep in the back of his mind, Neji knew that he and Sasuke would share a deep, unbreakable connection because of today's events. He wasn't sure where it would go, or what it would be, but he could guess from the fluttery feeling in his stomach, and the rising heat in his cheeks when Sasuke's hand stayed in place, and then tightened over his own…

Neji smiled shyly at Sasuke from behind his hair. Yes, he could definitely see where this was going.

**a/n**: Crime is everywhere in the United States of America right now. My heart goes to all of the victims of violence, and I apologize if this story seems like an insult to you. My best wishes to the victims and their families of the recent shootings across the Midwest.

Anyways, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review! ;) See y'all next drabble.


	39. Roses kibaneji

**a/n**: Happy Valentines' Day, everyone! This drabble is for math nerds everywhere, in addition to being a gift to one of my lovely reviewers. Disclaimer on my profile, no warnings…enjoy!

Drabble 040: Kiba/Neji, gift fic for IchigoxxxPudding; Roses.

Neji sighed as he stared down at the piece of polar graph paper in front of him. "…I really don't want to do this."

Kiba stared over Neji's shoulder. "What _is_ that?" the graph paper wasn't normal graph paper that he normally wrote on; it was covered in concentric circles, and Neji had it labeled like a unit circle.

"It's polar graph paper. We're learning how to graph different shapes, but it takes me a long time." Neji's nose wrinkled, and he sighed again.

"What sort of shapes are you graphing?"

Neji studied the equation in his textbook. "I think it's supposed to be a rose."

"Huh?"

Neji's lips twitched up in to a smile. "Yeah, we learned how to graph flowers. Pretty cool, huh?"

Kiba gave him a dubious look. "This is what I have to look forward to in pre-calculus? Drawing flowers?"

Neji rolled his eyes. "It's more than that, silly."

Kiba grinned. "I was just pulling your tail, Neji."

Neji looked at him oddly. "…What did you just say?"

Kiba looked confused, and then smiled at his mistake. "Sorry—that's a common phrase in India. What is it that you Americans say?"

"Pulling my leg," Neji corrected him. "…Pulling my _tail_? Really Kiba?"

The rest of the afternoon passed with amicable bickering between the two friends.

XXX

"Sasuke!"

"What?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow when he heard Kiba calling out to him. All the students spent a lot of time in the library, true, but Kiba rarely ever looked for him.

"You're in precalculus right?"

"…Yes."

"Can I borrow your book for ten minutes?"

Sasuke handed him the book without looking at him and went back to his literature book.

"Thanks man." Kiba sat down and started flipping through the book until he found what he was looking for. Despite what people thought, he wasn't stupid. He grinned when he found what he was looking for, and pulled out a graphing notebook and began taking notes. Hopefully, he would be able to pull this off.

XXX

On February 14th, Hyuga Neji opened his locker and nearly drowned in a flood of graph paper. He spat a snippet of paper out of his mouth and dusted himself off. "What the…?" He started picking up the graph paper, and realized that on every one, an equation was written, and a flower had been graphed. He looked in to his locker, and realized that someone had covered the walls of his locker with more flower graphs. His eyebrows crept upwards when he saw that the person who'd done all this had even taken the time to color all of the flowers red.

"Hey Neji—whoa, what happened to you? What happened to your locker?" Kiba stared at the inside of Neji's locker, and at the pieces of graph paper that Neji was holding.

He wasn't surprised when Neji turned on him and hit him over the head with the pile of paper in his hand.

"Ow!"

"You cheapskate!"

"What?" Kiba stared at him dazedly.

"You really couldn't go to the florist and buy an actual boquet of roses?" Neji asked in exasperation.

Kiba just laughed. "I thought you'd like this better."

Neji rolled his eyes and shoved the paper in to Kiba's hands. "Go dump that in the recycling."

When Kiba had his back turned, Neji let a small smile rest on his face. Granted, he would've preferred a real boquet of flowers, but he appreciated the sentiment behind Kiba's graphs.

**a/n**: Aw...that was cute. I actually had a bit of an adventure on Valentines' Day that involved sending anonymous flowers to someone I admire. Anyways, I know it's the day after, but I didn't have time yesterday…hope you enjoyed the fluff! Thanks for reading (and if you don't know what polar graphing is, just look it up on Wikipedia), and don't forget to review…see y'all next drabble!


	40. Spring Shikaneji

**a/n**: Hey everyone! I know it's been a while, but my life has been sooooo busy, it's not even funny. OVER 100 REVIEWS! Wow! Thank you to _all_ my lovely reviewers, and I hope you'll stay with me as this series continues. You guys mean so much to me! Anyways, this is just a cute little shikaneji drabble; no warnings, disclaimer on my profile…enjoy!

Drabble 041: Spring, Shikaneji.

"Shikamaru, what's your favorite part of spring?"

Shikamaru chuckled. "Why do you want to know something like that?"

The corners of Neji's mouth twitched upwards in to a small smile. "Just curious."

Shikamaru frowned thoughtfully. "…I don't really know. I've never really thought about what I like the best about spring."

"I see." Neji lay back in the grass beside his lover.

"Neji, what is your favorite part of spring?"

Neji thought about it for a moment. "…I'd have to say, blooming cherry trees and daffodils."

"Well, that's specific."

"It's the truth, though."

"Heh. Alright."

The two young men lay back in the grass in peaceful silence.

"Ne, Neji."

"Hm?"

"My favorite part of spring is seeing you smile every time we pass under a cherry tree."

Neji's response shattered the warm spring air in to bright fragments of joyous, loving laughter.

**a/n**: Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review on your way out! ;)


	41. Poem Part I itaneji

**a/n**: Hey everybody! I've been feeling in a cheesy mood, so you get…more fluff! This is an itaneji drabble that I decided would be more interesting split in half. No warnings, disclaimer on my profile…enjoy!

Drabble 042: Poem Part One, Itaneji

Neji blinked in surprise when he opened his literature book, only for a small slip of white paper to fall out.

Ten-Ten raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

Neji shrugged. "I don't know…" he picked up the paper and unfolded it. "It looks like…a poem…" Neji's voice trailed off as he started to read.

_My dearest Neji:_

O, you of pale white eyes and glowing skin

Who holds my heart in cold captivity

How I do long for your affection's warmth

To heat the frozen skin upon my heart

For to my winter, you are kindly spring

The graceful dance of flowers in the breeze

The gentle days of soft winds that blow sweet

The rains that wash away the deepest guilt

Sweet boy, do you know what you mean to me?

You are my heart, my soul, my everything

The first time that I met you I was lost

To the piercing gaze that saw straight through me

Lovely Neji, will you accept me so?

For I, the crow, stand still in anxiousness.

_-Uchiha Itachi-_

Ten-Ten raised an eyebrow as a blush settled across Neji's cheeks. "Good heavens, what is it?"

"A…a love poem. Ita-, I mean, _someone_ wrote me a love poem," Neji said dazedly.

"Do you know who it is?" Ten-Ten peered over Neji's shoulder, but Neji stuffed the paper in to his pocket before she could see anything.

"Maybe," Neji said shortly.

Ten-Ten scowled; she hated being left out of the loop. "Neji—"

"Sh, class is starting," Neji muttered, successfully escaping his best friend's persistent questioning.

XXX

Neji stared out the window and sighed; he knew that the ball was in his court now, and that if he didn't do something soon, Itachi would assume that he'd been rejected.

Neji smiled as he bit his pencil and stared at the sheet of paper on his lap. He wasn't terribly good with words, but he would give this his best shot.

**a/n**: I'm not really sure what the poem was because I was trying to write a sonnet but I forgot to put in a rhyme scheme, so I guess that Itachi's poem to Neji is essentially a sonnet without a rhyme scheme…lol. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and you'll find out what Neji's response was in the next update. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review on your way out ;)


	42. Poem Part II

**a/n:** So…I wrote these right after reading 'loving the unknown' by China Dolly. If you haven't read it yet, you shouldn't definitely read it, it's one of my favorite fics out there! Anyways, hooray for more bad poetry, because it runs rampant in this second installment

This is a continuation of Poem; no warnings, disclaimer on my profile, and prepare to have your teeth rot out from cuteness!

Drabble 043: Poem, Part II, Itaneji.

Uchiha Itachi raised an eyebrow when he saw a piece of lavender stationery slipped in to the side pocket of his backpack. He pulled the paper out, and began to read.

_Itachi:_

Needless to say, I am somewhat surprised

At the passion behind your lovely words

I had no idea you felt so much

Passion, nor carried such kindness to me.

I was pleasantly surprised and happy

At the sincerity of your message

I am honored that you should see me so

Like the sweetly delightful springtime breeze

You say that I am spring to your winter

Yet I find that this is not rightly so

For I have my own dark, icy secrets

That have also formed frost over my heart.

I think that in time, we will both find warmth

In each other, and the ensuing hapiness

-_Hyuga Neji-_

A slow smile formed on Itachi's face. He pulled out his phone and dialed the number at the bottom of the stationery.

"Hello?"

"How does dinner at seven sound to you?"

"Straightforward much?"

Itachi laughed. "I could say the same to you."

Neji giggled on the other side of the phone. "Dinner at seven sounds fine."

"I'll pick you up."

"Ok."

"See you then."

"See ya."

Both boys hung up their cellphones, with matching eagerly anxious smiles. They both knew that wherever their relationship went, it was at the very least, off to an excellent start.

**a/n**: Awwwwwww, aren't they adorable? Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this fluffy little installment. I'm running short on ideas for these drabbles, so feel free to leave me some prompts in your reviews Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review on your way out…see ya next drabble!


	43. Airport

**a/n**: Hey everyone! This is just a weird little prompt that popped in to my head. Although they aren't the actual couple, this one-shot is based around Hidan and Neji. No warnings, disclaimer on my profile…enjoy!

Drabble 044: Airport, Hidan/Neji

Neji sighed heavily through his nose. The passengers had been sitting on the hot, muggy plane for the past half hour while they waited for the pilot to prepare for takeoff. Neji hoped that the flight would get going soon, because honestly, he hated flying, and he wanted to see his family as soon as possible.

That's right, his family. Neji was finally heading back to his native land, Japan, after studying law in England for four years. Shortly after he'd received his degree, his uncle had offered him a position in the company, and Neji had eagerly accepted.

Good god, did he miss his family! Granted, his uncle and he had their own history of problems, but time away from his uncle had made him realize how much he cared for him. He also looked forward to reuniting with his cousins and his childhood friends.

Neji's mind drifted back to his ex-boyfriend, Hidan. They hadn't left on good terms, because Hidan hadn't understood why Neji couldn't study in Japan. They'd had a fight, and Neji hadn't tried contacting him since he'd left.

Neji vaguely wondered if Hidan was doing alright. It had been difficult, but Neji had moved on. His current boyfriend, Itachi, was in Germany at a medical conference. Itachi was Japanese, like himself, and would be returning to Japan the following Tuesday.

Neji breathed a sigh of relief when the plane started moving, and a voice came over the intercom. He had several long flights ahead of him, and he was eager to just get it over with.

XXX

Neji sighed in relief as he exited the plane. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to go on any long trips for a very long time…

His train of thought was broken by his younger cousin, Hanabi, jumping on to him in the arrival area.

"Ow."

"Sorry Neji-nii!" Neji grinned and ruffled her hair.

"It's no trouble. Where's everyone else?"

Hanabi grabbed his hand and began to lead him away. "Everyone's so excited you're back!" she exclaimed. "Uncle found some time to get out of the office, Shikamaru came down from Osaka to greet you, and even Hidan is here!"

Neji stopped, a curious expression settling on his face. "…Hidan is here?" he said slowly.

Hanabi raised an eyebrow. "Yes. Why shouldn't he be?"

"Well…I guess there's no good reason for him not to be here," Neji said slowly. The two resumed walking. "It's just that…well, you know, I've moved on. I wasn't expecting him to be here."

"He's become an important part of Uncle's company," Hanabi said cheerfully. "He's been around a lot."

_Troublesome._ Neji swore under his breath; if this was Hidan trying to worm his way in to his Uncle's good graces, then he was in for a whole lot of trouble.

Hanabi led Neji up to a large crowd of his family and friends, who he greeted with joyful hugs and kisses. Neji purposefully avoided Hidan with a barely muttered 'hello' in his direction before running off in the direction of his uncle's car.

Hidan stared at Neji's swiftly retreating back before shaking his head, and heading the other way. He'd hoped that Neji might be more accepting of him after their four-year long silence, but he guessed that Neji wasn't ready to re-establish contact yet.

Unfortunately for Neji, though, Hidan wasn't willing to wait any longer.

XXX

_Three weeks later…_

Hidan growled in frustration. Somehow, Neji had managed to avoid having a one-on-on conversation with him for the past three weeks. No matter how much he hid, though, he wasn't getting away from him!

Neji exited the office, and let out an exhausted yawn. It had been a long day, and he was looking forward to heading back to his apartment. Tomorrow, he was supposed to help Itachi start moving his things in, and he was looking forward to spending some quality time with his boyfriend.

Speaking of quality time, Itachi had promised to pick him up from work today. Neji settled down on a bench in front of the office; Itachi would most likely arrive in a few minutes.

Neji nearly flinched when he saw Hidan walking over towards him.

"Hey."

"H-hi." Neji hated how uncomfortable he felt.

"So…how've you been settling back in? Does it feel good to be back?"

"Yeah, it's great. I've started catching up with everyone over everything that's happened while I've been gone."

Hidan sat down beside Neji on the bench. "Are you waiting for someone?"

"Yeah, I'm waiting for my ride home," Neji said carelessly.

"I can give you a ride, if you need it."

"No, it's fine, he should be here in a few minutes."

"He?" Hidan questioned.

"Oh yeah. My boyfriend came back from Germany, and told me he'd give me a ride home today." Neji didn't look at Hidan while he spoke.

"Your…boyfriend," Hidan said slowly.

"Yes," Neji said simply.

"I see." Hidan stood up abruptly. "So…you've moved on then."

"Yes."

"Was it easy?" Hidan snarled. "How long did it take you to go find someone new once you'd left?"

"That's none of your business," Neji retorted. "Hidan, it's been four years! Get a grip! I've moved on with my life, and you should move on with yours!" Neji felt tears of resentment welling up in his eyes. "It wasn't easy, you damn bastard, but what the hell else was I supposed to do? You made it _obvious_ that you didn't want to talk."

"I made it _obvious_?" Hidan sneered.

"Look, if you'd wanted to talk so much, you could've called," Neji said shortly. He felt a wave of relief wash over him when he saw Itach's car coming down the street. "I don't want to fight with you Hidan. We were over four years ago, and there's no going back." Neji stood up, and hurried away from the building.

Itachi raised an eyebrow when Neji hurried in to the car. "Who was that?"

"Just a co-worker," Neji said shortly.

"He doesn't look very pleasant," Itachi observed.

"…He's alright," Nejis aid at last. "Just getting on my nerves today."

"If you say so." They drove away in silence.

When Neji returned the next morning, he was startled to find out that Hidan had resigned from his position in the company. No one knew where he was, and he wasn't picking up his phone.

Meanwhile, while the office was in an uproar over his absence, Hidan was sitting in a muggy, humid plane. He hated riding in planes, but he just knew he had to get away. He was heading out to the United States to stay with his cousin for a bit.

He wasn't looking forward to leaving, but what choice did he have? Without Neji, there was no place for him in Japan. He needed to move on with his life.

After the short flight, Hidan exited the plane, and was greeted by his cousin.

"You alright man? This was pretty sudden and all…"

Hidan just shook his head. "Just needed to get away from it all."

Suigetsu shook his head sympathetically, and clapped Hidan on the back. "Being a lawyer is tough stuff man. Don't worry, you can stay as long as you need."

Hidan nodded once, and together, they exited the airport.

**a/n**: This was written pretty quickly, and I'm not too happy with the ending, but I hope you all enjoyed! Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review on your way out…see y'all next drabble!


	44. Sweets sasuneji

**a/n**: Hey everyone! Sorry, I know it's been a while, but I'm trying my best to come up with ideas! Anyways, this story was…unfortunately, probably predicting my future tomorrow. But alas, I will still try my best! No warnings, disclaimer on my profile…enjoy!

Drabble 045: Sweets, Sasuneji.

Neji sighed, and stared down at the plastic Tupperware in his hands. There was one, sadly solitary brownie left, and he had no idea who to give it to! He'd been in a baking mood that weekend, and had made a batch of brownies; all of his friends and teachers had received some, and he didn't want it, so who could he give the last brownie to?

Neji flinched, and then quickly put the Tupperware back in his backpack when he saw a group of his classmates walking by. Naruto, Sasuke, Ino and Sakura walked passed, talking loudly, and didn't even notice him standing quietly off to the side.

Neji sighed as he stared after Sasuke's back. The younger boy always made Neji feel nervous and awkward with his established air of self-confidence and his handsome looks. Neji's thoughts fell back towards the lone sweet treat in his backpack. Maybe he could give it to Sasuke? Neji blushed at the thought; it was all together far too _girly_ for his tastes.

Neji turned his head when someone patted his shoulder. "What are you blushing off in to the distance for?" Ten-Ten asked curiously.

Neji shrugged her hand off his shoulder and picked up his backpack. "Nothing," he muttered. "Let's go eat."

Ten-Ten's eyes flicked over towards Sasuke, where Neji had been staring, and understanding dawned on her face. She followed Neji without a word.

XXX

As fate would have it, Neji and Sasuke were actually alone for a few moments before school was over.

"So how've things been for you, Neji-senpai? We haven't talked for a bit."

"Things have been good," Neji smiled sunnily at Sasuke. "What about you, Uchiha-san?"

Sasuke leaned against the windowsill and stared out at the vast blue sky. "Thing's have been alright. Itachi's started applying to universities, which is making everyone really tense."

"When will he found out whether or not he was accepted?"

"In a couple of months."

"I see." The two sat in contemplative silence for a few moments before Neji spoke again. "Sasuke, do you like sweets?"

"Um…sure? Why do you ask?"

"Well, I still-" Neji was interrupted by Naruto bursting in to their quiet corner of the classroom. "SASUKE!"

"…What?" Sasuke looked at Naruto with annoyance written across his face. He was finally getting in some time with his attractive upperclassman, and Naruto just had to come in and ruin the moment.

"Can I get a ride home with you today?"

"Sure." Sasuke turned back to Neji. "What were you saying Neji?"

Neji opened his mouth, only to be cut off by the bell. He glanced behind Sasuke at Naruto who was waving his arms and talking loudly to his friends. Neji shook his head quickly and stood up. "It was nothing important. Have a good weekend, Uchiha-san."

"You too."

With that, Neji walked out of class, cursing his own cowardice.

**a/n**: Agh, I know, blagh ending, but this is me venting my nervousness about trying to give pie to this guy that I like. Anyways, hope y'all enjoyed, feel free to leave a prompt (just a random word will do) in a review…thanks for reading!


	45. sweets alternate ending

**a/n**: Hey everyone! Thanks for reviewing, it means a lot! I look forward to trying to create things off the prompts you left me

So…I was inspired to write an alternative ending to sweets because, even though it took me a couple of tries, I still managed to get my gift to the intended receiver, and I want Sasuke and Neji to have a cute moment together. Anyways, no warnings, this piece starts halfway through the original 'sweets' drabble. Enjoy the fluff!

Drabble 044: Alternative to Sweets Sasuneji

Just an alternative ending to 'sweets'

XXX

As fate would have it, Neji and Sasuke were actually alone for a few moments before school was over.

"So how've things been for you, Neji-senpai? We haven't talked for a bit."

"Things have been good," Neji smiled sunnily at Sasuke. "What about you, Uchiha-san?"

Sasuke leaned against the windowsill and stared out at the vast blue sky. "Thing's have been alright. Itachi's started applying to universities, which is making everyone really tense."

"When will he found out whether or not he was accepted?"

"In a couple of months."

"I see." The two sat in contemplative silence for a few moments before Neji spoke again. "Uchiha-san, do you like sweets?"

"Um…sure? Why do you ask?"

"Well, I still-" Neji was interrupted by Naruto bursting in to their quiet corner of the classroom. "SASUKE!"

"…What?"

"Can I have a ride home with you today?" Naruto slung an arm around Sasuke's shoulders, and Neji struggled to hide his envy.

"Sure." Sasuke shrugged Naruto off his shoulders, and shot his friend a discreet glare. He turned away from Naruto, and back to Neji. "Sorry, what were you saying Neji-senpai?"

Neji opened his mouth, but he was cut off by the bell. Neji glanced over Sasuke's shoulder at Naruto who was waiting impatiently by the door.

Normally, Neji would just shrug it off and cry when he got home; however, for some reason, Neji still felt irritated about Naruto interrupting the moment.

Neji gathered his courage and spoke. "I have some extra brownies from a class party earlier today. Do you want one?"

Sasuke blinked in surprise; he certainly hadn't been expecting this from his shy upperclassman. "Sure."

Neji dug around in his back for a few moments before pulling out the cellophane-wrapped treat, and handing it to Sasuke with a brilliant smile. "Have a nice weekend Uchiha-san."

"You too, Neji-senpai."

The two teenagers left school with identical grins on their faces.

**a/n**: Hope you guys enjoyed this somewhat fluffier ending Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review on your way out!


	46. Selkies itaneji

**a/n**: Hey everybody! Thanks for all the love ly reviews *huggles* So…I know that AUeh ara wanted mermaids, but this what ended up happening instead…I hope you all sti ll enjoy this little piece though! This is K+, so warnings: implied sexual actions. D isclaimer on my profile…enjoy! (For thos e who don't know, selkies are mythical c reatures who are seals in the water, but can shed their skins and be humans on l and.)

Drabble 045: Selkie, itaneji

Itachi s down the beach, and smiled as h e saw a group of seals happily frolickin g in the waves. He paused briefly when h e saw a human figure out on the rocks. I t was dangerous, out on the ocean; the r ocks were covered in slippery salt water , and one could easily be carried away b y the strong ocean currents if you lost your footing. Itachi hurried down the sh ore to scold the frivolous person.

However, he stopped dead when he saw who the person was. A young man with long, unbound brown hair, pearl-white eyes, an d flawless milky skin was seated on a ro ck, watching the waves of the sea crash down on his perch. The youth carried an ethereal sense of beauty about him, enha nced by his white scarf fluttering in th e breeze, his white shirt soaked through by sea spray, and his dark pants contra sting pleasantly with his pale skin.

Itachi's eyes fell on the fur cloak behi nd the boy. He didn't understand why he felt so compelled to do so, but he silen tly crept up on the youth. He silently s natched the fur cloak from behind the bo y's back.

The boy instantly turned around, but Ita chi had already thrown the cloak in to t he sea. The boy's mouth opened in a soun dless scream. The boy moved as if to lea p off the rock in to the sea, but Itachi seized him firmly about the waist, thre w him over his shoulder, and steadily be gan making his way towards the shore.

He could hear the boy sobbing as he thra shed and flailed against his firm hold. "What have you done?" the boy sobbed. "W hy have you done this to me?'

Itachi didn't reply, and continued carry ing him down to the shore. He himself di dn't know why he had thrown the cloak in to the ocean, or why he was so entrance d with the boy.

Itachi didn't set the boy down on his fe et until they were back in Itachi's home . He gently lowered the boy to the groun d, and directed him in to a chair.

"What is your name?"

The boy shivered, but didn't respond.

Itachi tried again. "Are you cold?"

The boy hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. Itachi responded by settling a blanket on the boy's shoulders and start ing a fire.

"What is your name?" Itachi asked again, once he'd settled down once more.

The youth hesitated before answering. "N eji."

"My name is Itachi."

"…Why have you brought me here?" Neji as ked quietly. He eyed Itachi with fear, h is face akin to that of a wary animal.

Itachi regarded Neji briefly before his eyes widened in sudden comprehension.

How could he have been so foolish? This was why he'd been so drawn to Neji. This was why Neji had been so protective of his fur cloak.

"You're a selkie, aren't you?" Itachi as ked quietly.

Neji's eyes widened, and Itachi heard hi s small, sharp intake of breath. "I-I do n't know what you're talking about."

Itachi stood up and approached Neji unti l he towered over Neji's chair. "You're a selkie. That's why you tried to leap b ack in to the ocean after I threw your c loak out to the sea."

Neji looked dismayed, and then confused. "I thought," he said slowly, "I thought that you knew that I was a selkie, whic h is why you threw my cloak out to sea." 

"I was unaware of it."

"Then why did you do away with my only a bility to return to my true home?" Neji asked in despair.

"I can't really say," Itachi admitted. " I acted on an impulse."

Neji stared up at him. "You've torn me a way from everything I've ever known," he said, his voice wavering. "And you were acting on an _impulse_? Are all humans so cruel in this way?" Neji stared at him with stricken eyes.

"No." Itachi pursed his mouth. "…so, you belong to me now."

Neji looked up, but squeaked as a hungry mouth clashed in to his, and demanding hands gripped his hair firmly. He couldn 't help but give in to Itachi's rough, w ind-weathered lips and calloused hands.

Despite Itachi's unsociable demeanor, he was a gentle, caring lover. Later, as t hey lay beneath a blanket in Itachi's be d, Neji observed Itachi's face carefully . Then, he soundlessly slipped away from Itachi's bed and in to the night. He ra n down the shoreline, wading waist-deep in to the waves where a ring of seals su rrounded them. A brown cloak was submerg ed in the sea water. Neji took it, and f rowned when he realized that the cloak w asn't his.

"What is this?" he asked his family curi ously. "This isn't mine. Where is my ski n? I want to go home," he said plaintive ly.

One seal swam forward in to the center o f the circle. In the blink of an eye, a tall man stood in his place with similar features to Neji's.

"Look carefully at your hands, Neji. The n, look carefully in to your heart. Retu rn here as soon as you can, and we will have your skin for you."

Neji shivered in the cold water. "Why ar e you sending me back?" he cried sadly. "Have I been such a bad son to you, fath er?"

Neji's father shook his head, a small sm ile playing around the corner of his mou th. "It is for the best, Neji. Come back as soon as you can." With that, the rin g of seals broke apart and swam out to t he open sea, leaving Neji staring longin gly after them.

XXX

Itachi sat up in bed, and looked about h im. Neji was warming himself by the fire , and the light of the morning sun was f iltering through the windows.

Neji noticed he was awake, and came over by his bed. Itachi raised an eyebrow wh en Neji ran a careful hand through Itach i's hair. "Did you sleep well last night ?"

Itachi thought back to the events of the previous evening. Despite being initial ly unwilling, Neji had eventually been t he one who insisted that they go all the way. He vaguely wondered if Neji felt a ny sense of shame or regret.

"I slept well. And you?"

"I slept well also." Neji rose from Itac hi's bedside and returned to his seat in front of the fire. Itachi sat up, and f roze when he saw the brown cloak hanging by the door.

"Neji, what is that?" he asked slowly, e ntirely unsure of what to think.

Neji followed his gaze to the cloak. "It isn't mine," he said at last. "If it wa s mine, I wouldn't be here right now."

Itachi got to his feet and threw his clo thes on before walking over to the door and inspecting the cloak. "Where did you find this?"

Neji just shook his head. Itachi frowned , and reached out to rub the material of the cloak between his fingers.

Neji raised an eyebrow when he saw Itach i go rigid. "What's the matter?"

Itachi shook his head sharply and releas ed the cloak. "Where did you find this?" 

"Does it matter?"

"Yes."

"…I went down to the ocean this morning, " Neji admitted reluctantly. "I found it , on the beach." Neji decided that a lit tle white lie wouldn't hurt anyone.

"You're lying."

"I am not!" Neji said defensively. "Why would I lie to you?"

Itachi scowled, grabbed the cloak, and o pened the door. "We're going down to the beach."

Neji blinked in surprise at Itachi's abr upt actions. "What? Why?"

Itachi growled, and Neji flinched backwa rds in fear. "You can walk yourself, or I can carry you. Come on." With that, It achi vanished out in to the early mornin g mist.

Neji darted after him, and followed him down to the shores of the sea. "Itachi, what are we doing here?"

In response, Itachi waded out in to the sea. Neji followed him, confused by his actions. Had Itachi gone mad?

Itachi pulled the cloak over his head, a nd in his place, a seal bobbed in the wa ves.

Neji stared. "…What is this?"

Suddenly, Itachi was standing in the sea l's place. "What do you think it is?"

"You're a selkie." Neji stared at him. " You said that you threw my cloak in to t he sea on an impulse!"

"It was." Itachi frowned. "I picked up t he cloak this morning, and suddenly…I re membered everything. I'd been on land fo r too long, and forgot that I could turn in to a seal. When I was a child, a sel kie family stole my seal skin while I wa s playing on land, and I was trapped on the earth, unable to return to the sea. I lived for twenty years, and became a m an. I forgot everything, allowing the hu mans to feed me their skepticism about m agic and folklore, until I saw you yeste rday. I followed my impulses and threw y our cloak in to the ocean and carried yo u away. Neji, I can't thank you enough." Itachi looked down at Neji with shining eyes. "You've allowed me to return back to my home."

"Y-you…" Neji stuttered off in to silenc e. Itachi's story made sense; he'd heard stories of selkies that had become trap ped and land, and forgotten their true f orms until they were reunited with their skins once more, and Itachi's story fit the image exactly.

It made Neji want to believe it, but he didn't want to believe Itacih's story at the same time. If two selkies shared a bed, the custom was that they were bonde d mates for life. Neji frowned, and thou ght back to his father's words. His fath er had said to look at his hands; Neji l ooked down at his hands. They were pale and smooth, like the white stones on the bottom of the sea flor. Neji strained h is eyes, and suddenly gasped.

Itachi looked at him curiously. "What's the matter?"

Neji didn't respond, and instead lifted his trembling hands closer to the light. _Could it be…_

Yes, there was no mistaking it. A red, n early invisible string was tied around h is left pinky, and the string was attatc hed to Itachi's hand as well.

Itachi's eyes followed Neji's to the mag ical string that bound their souls.

"Are you upset?"

"No," Neji said distractedly. "I just…it 's just…it's just too much."

Itachi instantly waded over to Neji, and drew him in to a gentle embrace. "Did y ou think you would be alone forever?" It achi rumbled. "Did you think that you wo uld never find your true soul mate?"

Almost as if in response to Itachi's que stion, a ring of seals surrounded Neji a nd Itachi. Neji reached out with shakng hands, and carefully drew out a sodden, dripping brown cloak from the water. He lifted the cloak over his head, and in h is place, a slight, light-brown seal flo ated in his place. Beside him, a serious -looking black seal circled around him h appily.

As one, the group of seals turned, and t hen dived beneath the surface of the wat er, each one eager to return to the magi cal city of the selkies, deep beneath th e sea.

**a/n:** So, hopefully you liked this cheesy lit tle one-shot. Thanks for reading, and do n't forget to review on your way out!


	47. Mermaids shikaneji

**a/n**: Uwah…your responses to my last drabble seemed like it wasn't quite what you guys were looking for, and I feel like I'm letting y'all down. Hopefully, this makes up for a little bit. No warnings (except for major fluff), disclaimer on my profile…enjoy!

Drabble 046: Mermaids, shikaneji

Shikamaru sighed and released a drag from his cigarette as he stared out at the vast blue ocean.

"Shikamaru?" The captain of the ship, Uchiha Itachi, stepped up beside him. "What are you doing outside? It's late at night. I can't have you falling off the masts tomorrow."

"Couldn't sleep," Shikamaru grunted.

Itachi chuckled. "Alright." He leaned on the railing next to Shikamaru. "Do you know what they say about these waters, Shikamaru?"

"What do they say?" Shikamaru turned to Itachi curiously, careful not to blow smoke directly in to his captain's face.

"They say that there are mermaids out here," Itachi smiled.

Shikamaru scoffed. "What, and you believe it?"

"I've seen them," Itachi told him seriously. "I was out here, late at night, just like you, when a group of mermaids swam by. I thought I'd gone crazy."

"Well, I wouldn't be so sure about that," Shikamaru said drily.

Itachi chuckled and patted Shikamaru on the shoulder. "Try and get some rest Shikamaru." He turned away, and descended back in to the ship, leaving Shikamaru to his own thoughts.

"Mermaids…" Shikamaru murmured softly. Then, he shook his head. "How silly." Mermaids were real, but they never approached big ships like this one. He doubted that he would see any during their navigation of the sapphire blue waters of the Pacific Ocean.

XXX

Neji flipped his tail as he swam gracefully through the water. He smiled as his cousins zoomed off eagerly ahead of him; he also loved swimming out in the open ocean and mingling with the sea creatures and swimming through the gentle fronds of kelp forests.

Neji frowned in concern as his cousins suddenly stopped short and pointed ahead of him. "What is it?" he called.

Hinata and Hanabi turned towards him, consternation written across their faces. "A ship," Hanabi whispered, once Neji had reached them. "There's a ship nearby."

Neji flinched; humans were aware of the existence of mermaids, and even though now they coexisted in peace, mermaids were still taught to fear humans from an early age. Long ago, mermaids had been stolen from their home waters, placed in freak shows for humans, and been treated horribly. "We should turn back," he said quickly. There had also been a period of time when humans had hunted mermaids for their lovely scales; Neji didn't want anything to happen to his precious cousins.

"Yes, let's go." The three mermaids fearfully sped back to the mer-city, and spread word of the nearby ship.

A day later, and the ship hadn't moved. When the entire mer-city had fallen asleep, late in the depths of the night, Neji swam towards the surface. True, he was frightened of the humans, but he was more curious about the ship. He also doubted that any humans would be awake on the ship at this ungodly hour anyways.

XXX

Shikamaru leaned against the rail of the ship and blue a puff of smoke as he looked out at the night sea. The ship had stayed anchored in the same spot all day as the captain and crew took a short break to enjoy the nice weather.

Shikamaru started when he saw something bobbing on the surface of the water near the ship. His mouth dropped open, and he nearly dropped his cigarette in to the open sea. There, in the water, barely visible in the bright light of the full moon, was a mermaid. He watched as the mermaid inspected the wooden hull of the ship.

Then, the mermaid looked up, and locked eyes with him. Shikamaru felt himself drowning in shining pools of pearl.

The mermaid broke the spell. "A-are you a human?"

Shikamaru stared for a moment before he collected himself. He'd never actually met a mermaid in real life, so even though he'd heard stories, the beautiful creature before him was still an awe-inspiring sight. "Yes, I am a human. My name is Shikamaru. What's yours?" Shikamaru leaned over the rail to speak to the mermaid. She was beautiful, with long brown hair and pale skin, with a shimmery blue and silver tail.

"I'm Neji," the mermaid whispered shily. "I-I…I-I've never met a human before."

"I've never met a mermaid before," Shikamaru smiled charmingly at Neji.

Neji seemed uneasy. "I-I just wanted to look at your ship," he said nervously. "I've never had the opportunity to do so before…"

"How come? Lots of ships come through these waters."

Neji shook his head. "My uncle won't allow us to. Even though I'm an eligible male, he still warns us away from the ships; my uncle is very old, and he remembers back to the strife we had with the humans."

So the mermaid was male; Shikamaru watched his every move in fascination. Given Neji's long hair, it had been difficult for Shikamaru to ascertain his gender. "I can assure you that we didn't come here to harm you. We are just passing through on our way to the next port."

"But…you've been here for a day," Neji said puzzled. "How come your ship has remained here for such a long time?"

Shikamaru smiled. "We were just enjoying the weather."

Neji blinked, and then shook his head. Humans seemed like very odd creatures. However, this human, Shikamaru, was enjoyable to talk to. Neji remained above the surface of the water, talking to Shikamaru about the mer-people until dawn.

Neji flinched as the first fingers of sunlight poked over the horizon. "Oh no! I mustn't be caught above the surface. I must leave you-"

"Wait." Shikamaru stretched out his hand towards Neji. "I understand that you don't want to get caught, but…aren't you curious?"

"Curious about what?"

"How human hands feel?"

Neji tilted his head and surveyed Shikamaru's outstretched palm. It didn't look any different from any of his fellow mermaid's hands, but still…what could it hurt? Neji reached out and grasped Shikamaru's hand in his. Neji blinked at the roughness of Shikamaru's hands; his hands were covered in bumps, and riddled in scars.

Shikamaru felt a thrill run through him as Neji took his hand. Neji's hand was wet, but absolutely smooth with no marks of disfigurations on it. His hands were nearly the same size as Shikamaru's, but his nails, rather than being pale pink, were the same deathly shade of white as his hand.

Shikamaru used the moment to do exactly what he'd wanted to do all night long. He seized the unsuspecting mermaid's hand, and pulled him forward. Neji pulled back in alarm, but Shikamaru had already stolen a kiss from his perfect, coral pink lips.

Neji gasped, and Shikamaru was sure that he was blushing. "W-what…?"

"You're beautiful, Neji," Shikamaru said sincerely. "It was lovely meeting you."

"I-it was enjoyable meeting you too, Shikamaru." Neji hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "I am glad that I learned so much about human customs, Shikamaru. Take care on your voyage, and may we meet again."

Shikamaru smiled down at the lovely mermaid. "May we meet again."

Neji disappeared in to the depths of the ocean with a flick of his shimmery tail.

Two hours later, Shikamaru's crewmates stumbled on to the upper deck to find Shikamaru with his head in his hands. Itachi gently shook him awake as the ship slowly came to life.

"Did you see any mermaids last night?" Itachi asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"I did," Shikamaru smiled slowly. "I thought I'd gone mad."

"What happened?"

"A young mermaid was curious about the ship." Shikamaru smiled at the innocent surprise that Neji had shown after Shikamaru kissed him. "He left at dawn."

Itachi smiled ominously. "…you will spend the rest of your life looking for that young mermaid. And when you find him again, he'll try and pull you down in to the ocean, and you'll drown."

Shikamaru chuckled. When Itachi left though, he cast a lingering glance at the sparkling blue waters of the sea. "I just might let him," he murmured under his breath.

**a/n**: So…kind of lame ending, but this was written pretty quickly. Also, for my readers who want more neji-mermaid action, there's a livejournal group called cfud (short for 'camp fuck you die') which has some highly amusing anecdotes, lovely itaneji, and also interesting camp illnesses that cause Neji to turn in to a mermaid, complete with fan art. (I also believe that, during some point throughout the discussion, Itachi turns in to an angel briefly.) Anyways, so check that out if you're interested.

Oh, and before I forget—I've also published a new itaneji one-shot called 'Keeping the Peace', so you guys should check that out as well *waves advertising sign*.

Thanks for reading this drabble, and don't forget to review on your way out!


	48. Hunter itaneji

**a/n**: Wow! I'm on a roll; it's spring break for my school right now, so that's why there are a ton of updates right now (although just warning you, for the next two weeks, writing will be a little sparse as I'll be returning to school next week, and then my life will be hectic all over again.) so anyways, I based this off the Wikipedia article about the Hunter x Hunter mangas, and then added in my own original idea. No warnings, disclaimer on my profile…enjoy!

Drabble 047: Hunter, Itaneji

Neji tucked himself more securely in to the deep hood of his black cloak, and shivered as the cool night air struck his face. He was following a lead on his target, but the night was cold, and the hour was growing late. However, Neji knew that this might be the one chance he had to end the chase before having to pursue his target for another full five years before even getting anything close to a chance of capture.

His target was Uchiha Itachi, S-Class criminal; he'd murdered his clan when he was a boy, and had fled his home city. The Konoha shinobi wanted him back, not only to try and punish him for his crimes, but also because everyone knew that he would be an invaluable asset to the war against the Village Hidden in the Clouds. Konoha had suffered heavy casualties from the war, which was why they'd fallen so low as to send a legion of hunters to seek out Uchiha Itachi, capture him, and bring him back to Konoha alive.

As far as Neji knew, he was the only one who'd been able to get this close to the target. Normally, he would be with the rest of his team of three, but the others had been assigned to a different Hunter mission.

Neji swore under his breath and picked up his pace. According to his informant, Itachi would be picking up a delivery at a shop down the street about now; Neji turned the corner and scanned the quiet storefronts in front of him. He let out a sharp breath of frustration; his eyes could detect no signs of life on the street.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps closing on him. Neji whirled around, only for to feel something heavy crash in to the side of his head, and his mind descended in to darkness.

XXX

Neji woke up to a dark room, and a pounding headache. He quickly realized that his hands and feet were bound, and that there was a scarf tied over his mouth to prevent him from making any noise.

"Ah…so you're awake?"

Neji flinched at the sound of the voice, and located the speaker as his eyes slowly adjusted to the poor lighting in the room. His eyes were met with no other sight other than that of Uchiha Itachi.

Itachi smirked slightly at the confusion and fear teeming in Neji's eyes. "Don't worry; I don't intend to harm you."

Neji didn't relax. What reason did he have to trust Itachi?

Itachi chuckled. "You're a willful one, aren't you? But you'll find that I keep my promises." Itachi walked over and sat down next to Neji. "Would you like to know where we are?"

Neji eyed him cautiously. What good would it do him to know their location? He wouldn't be able to escape with his hands and feet bound, regardless.

Itachi chuckled. "We are in Konoha," he told him smoothly. "Are you surprised?"

Neji felt a sense of shock. They were in Konoha? How was Itachi hiding from the police?

Itachi smirked. "No one knows we're here. This is a unique place, where no one is permitted to enter save a certain few. We're in the ruins of the Uchiha compound," he said with relish. "It brings back memories."

Neji glared at Itachi, but didn't bother trying to make any noise.

"I'm going to untie your scarf now," Itachi informed him. "If you try and scream, I'll knock you out again. Do you understand?"

Neji nodded slowly (his head was still throbbing), and Itachi reached out and untied the scarf from his mouth. He gently lifted a glass of water to Neji's lips, which Neji eagerly drank from.

"Thank you," Neji said when he'd finally had his fill of water.

"You're welcome," Itachi said graciously. "Now, why were you trying to track me down, little Hyuga?"

"You must already know," Neji said in surprise, "Or else, why have you returned here?"

"I am here for my own reasons," Itachi said coolly. "I do not know why you've been following me. The little rat who sold my location to you paid dearly for your knowledge, but he wouldn't tell me as to your intentions."

Neji shuddered at the malicious gleam in Itachi's eyes. "I never told him why I wanted to find you."

"Then how did you convince him to reveal my location?"

"We struck a bargain." Neji shifted, and surreptitiously twisted his hands behind his back as he tested the strength of his bonds. Unfortunately, the knots seemed quite complex, and he would need time to try and untie them.

"I see." Itachi sat contemplatively, seemingly unnoticing of Neji's attempts to break free. "…But it matters little. What is your name, and why did you follow me?"

"Why do you need my name?"

"'Little Hyuga' grows tiresome after a while," Itachi smirked. "Answer my question."

Neji sighed. There wasn't much he could do in way of capturing Itachi and dragging him to the police, but perhaps he could convince him to give himself up by explaining his reasons. "I was sent to follow you by the Hokage. The war against the Kumogakure has been dragging on, and Konoha has taken many hard hits. The Hokage wanted to capture you and convince you to fight for us so that we might have a chance to win, or stop the war."

"If I were to return to Konoha," Itachi responded, "They would want to try me for the murder of my clan. Is that not so?"

"I don't know," Neji said honestly. "We are all desperate to end the war."

"If I helped end the war, my trial would be inevitable," Itachi mused softly. "…Why does the Hokage think I will fight?"

Neji shook his head. "I don't know," he murmured softly. "I just did what I was ordered to do."

Itachi sighed in exasperation. "But of course," he muttered. "So, little Hyuga, what is your name?"

Neji remained silent. His name was the one defense he had against Itachi, and he would not give it up willingly. However, there wasn't any real harm in Itachi knowing his name, as Neji doubted that Itachi would recognize it. "My name is Neji."

"Neji…" Itachi mused. "What a curious name. Your parents weren't very original, were they?"

Neji's eyes hardened and he didn't say anything further. Itachi chuckled slightly.

"I do wonder though…why did they send you after me?" he mused softly. "Your nature is inherently trusting, and while you are certainly not weak, your skills are no match for mine. What is Tsunade trying to achieve?"

Neji watched, fascinated, as Itachi's Sharingan eyes came out as he lost himself in thought. The spinning wheels drew Neji in, and he felt himself growing sleepy…

"I'm sorry, little Hyuga," Itachi rumbled gently as Neji's eyes fell shut. "But this way is easiest for both of us."

XXX

Neji woke with a start, and felt extremely disoriented. Where was he? What was going on? He twitched slightly, and winced as his side throbbed.

Itachi stood over him, his sword out and his eyes blazing. "So…you're awake little one?"

Neji blinked, and nodded his head slightly. He was startled to realize that his mouth was uncovered, and that he could speak freely.

"What's happening?" Neji murmured. His eyesight was blurry, and he vaguely realized that he was lying on his side on the ground. Dust entered his nose, and he sneezed violently.

"I'm holding you hostage," Itachi muttered frankly. "I'm also working out a deal with the Konoha ninja force to allow me safe passage to fight for my city."

Neji blinked, and strained his ears. He realized that he and Itachi were surrounded by a ring of armed people; he blinked again and tried to clear his vision.

The people surrounding him must've realized that Neji had gained consciousness. "Neji!" Neji twitched at the familiar noise of his team mate's voice. "Neji are you alright?"

Neji's eyesight slowly came in to focus, and he realized that he was staring at Lee's face past Itachi's swirling cloak. "…I'm fine, Lee."

"It will be alright," Lee promised him, worry sharpening the edges of his voice. "We'll get you out of there soon."

Neji's eyes flickered up to Itachi, who stood rapt with attention. He was struck by the sheer natural beauty of Itachi's fighting stance.

Itachi's eyes flickered to the left, and he suddenly struck out above Neji's body. Neji instinctively curled up, and winced at the sound of someone stumbling backwards. "No one touches him," Itachi said fiercely. "No one touches him until my safety is guaranteed."

Neji chanced a glance up, only to see Itachi's foot coming down heavily on to his head. Neji shut his eyes tight and flinched away, only startled to feel no pain. Instead, he opened his eyes, only to be swallowed up by Itachi's spinning sharingan orbs, and he fell back in to the sweet land of dark oblivion.

XXX

Neji next woke up in a hospital bed. He blinked slowly, and sat up.

To his surprise, Itachi had fallen asleep, his head pillowed on his arms on Neji's mattress. Neji frowned in confusion; hadn't he been bargaining his safe passage in to Konoha? If so, what was he doing in Neji's sickroom?

Neji took an inventory of himself; he could feel no other injuries beside a sore muscle in his side. He reached down and drew his hospital shift up to see an ugly bruise blooming across his abdomen.

Neji's movements awakened Itachi. "So, you're awake Neji?"

"I am," Neji said slowly. "What are you doing here?"

"I have a little while yet before I'm being deployed to the front lines," Itachi said calmly. "I wanted to apologize to you before I left though."

"Apologize?" Neji pushed a shaking hand through his hair; Itachi wasn't holding him hostage any more, and Neji could scream for help at any moment, but he still didn't feel safe around Itachi.

"I treated you harshly, and I apologize for doing so, but I needed a way to gain safe passage back in to the city."

"I will not continue to be your shield once the war is over," Neji said tiredly. "They will still try you and kill once the war is done."

Itachi shook his head. "I think you will be appropriately surprised to find me in Konoha's good graces."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see, once you leave this hospital. I'm told you injuries are minimal, so you should be leaving here quite soon."

"Do you always speak in riddles?" Neji asked drily.

Itachi chuckled. "Well, I'll leave you to it. Good luck to your future hunting, little Hyuga."

"Good luck on the front lines."

Itachi paused as he was about to leave the room, and turned back to Neji with a smirk. "…I doubt this will be the last you see of me before I head off to war, Neji."

And he was right. Itachi continued to pursue Neji, and in the three months leading up to Itachi's deployment, Neji got to know the other man well. On the day of Itachi's departure, Neji surprised himself by giving Itachi a hug and a kiss, and telling him to come back safely. Itachi had smiled and winked at him before leaving with the rest of the troops.

Three years later, Neji anxiously paced in his apartment. Konoha, using Itachi, had successfully won the war. The troops were being sent back home, and Neji was anxiously awaiting Itachi's arrival. Even though it was no secret that there was _something_ going on between Neji and Itachi, Neji had felt too shy and too nervous to actually go greet Itachi when he lighted down back in Konoha. True to his word back in the hospital, Itachi had returned to Konoha's good graces as the true story behind the murder of his clan came out. Apparently, the clan had been planning on performing a coup de etat, but Itachi had taken out his family for the sake of Konoha.

Finally! Someone knocked at the door, and Neji hurried over to open it, fear and anxiety fighting a vicious war in his stomach.

He flung open the door, and was rewarded by the sight of Itachi grinning at him. Itachi looked haggard and weary from his experiences during the war, but that didn't stop Neji from flying in to his arms and wrapping him up in a hug.

Neji drew away when he heard his uncle laughing at him from behind Itachi. "As you can see, Neji missed you very much during your period of deployment, Itachi-san."

Itachi kissed Neji on the cheek and said, "Yes, I can see that."

Neji quickly moved away from the door so that Itachi could set his things down.

"Now, you be careful with Neji," Hiashi warned Itachi. "If you ever hurt him-"

"_Uncle_," Neji protested in embarrassment. Itachi had barely gotten home, and Hiashi was already harassing him!

"Well, somethings need to be said, Neji," Hiashi chuckled at his nephew's embarrassment. "I'll see you around, Uchiha."

"Of course, Hyuga-san." Itachi bowed respectfully, and Neji closed his front door with a quiet click.

Later that night, Neji was lying down on his sofa with his head in Itachi's lap. Itachi's fingers idly carded through Neji's hair, and Neji purred in delight.

"To think," Itachi mused, "That we got off to such a rocky start."

Neji rolled his eyes. "Well, whose fault was _that_?"

Itachi chuckled. "At least it worked out in the end."

Neji smiled. "…Welcome home, Itachi."

"It's good to be back." _In more ways than one_. Itachi looked down at his boyfriend, and smiled at the understanding in Neji's eyes. True, they'd gotten off to a rough start, but there was happiness in their future. Itachi was certain of it.


	49. Mermaids II shikaneji

**a/n**: Wow, thanks for all the reviews you guys! It means a lot!

Anyways, I sort of wrote this in a depressed hormonal haze, so this is a hash of weird emotions stuffed in to a pretty long one-shot. No warnings, disclaimer on my profile…enjoy!

Drabble 048: Ocean; sequel to mermaid

Twenty years later, Shikamaru strolled through the halls of his ship. Yes, _his_ ship. Ten years ago, Itachi had jumped overboard in this very same region of the ocean; the crew had chattered that Itachi had finally gone mad, but Shikamaru knew the real reason why. He'd seen the mermaid with floppy orange hair and purple eyes reaching out towards the Uchiha from the sea. He'd seen Itachi smile darkly at him and blow him a kiss as he was pulled underwater.

He thought back to twenty years ago, when Itachi had darkly prophesied Shikamaru's fate. Shikamaru chuckled at the thought; it had been twenty years. If the mermaid wanted him back, he'd had twenty years to do it, so he doubted that Neji had any intentions of drowning him. But still…Shikamaru thought back on Neji's sheer natural beauty, and a sigh of longing escaped him as he leaned against the railing…

And nearly fell overboard in shock as he was met with a familiar face.

"_Neji?_"

The past twenty years had been kind to Neji; his face had matured from sweet boyishness to an older maturity, and he'd retained his sheer beauty.

"…" Neji tilted his head to the side curiously when a spark of recognition went through his eyes. "Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru stared at him. "You remember me," he murmured.

Neji looked at him kindly. "Yes, I remember you."

"It's been a long time."

"It has, hasn't it?" Neji mused softly. "How have you been, Shikamaru?"

"I've been good. I'm captain of the ship now."

Neji raised an eyebrow. "You are? What changed?"

Shikamaru smirked. "Itachi was dragged down by mermaids ten years ago."

"Dragged down…" Neji seemed puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"A mermaid was calling him from the ocean, and he answered," Shikamaru shrugged. "The last I saw of him was that he went willingly beneath the surface of the water."

"Ah…"Neji trailed off in thought. "What did the person who dragged him under look like?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "…It was a long time ago, I don't remember too well."

Neji still seemed confused. "Not many mermaids find their mates above the surface of the sea," he said at last. "Whoever it was, the mermaid was not of my kingdom."

"Hmph," Shikamaru grunted. "What do you mean 'mate'?"

Neji smiled quietly. "Every mermaid has a soul mate," he informed Shikamaru. "Only this person truly understands you and your needs, and you can bear children with them."

"That sounds pretty heavy," Shikamaru chuckled. "I like being able to move between partners."

Neji tilted his head. "…I don't understand."

"Humans can have sex with pretty much as many other humans as they like. We don't really have a soul mates thing…I mean, you can have a soul mate, and if you find them it's great, but otherwise we just express our desire to whomsoever we want."

Neji's eyes turned sad. "That sounds free," he said quietly.

Shikamaru felt his heart melt when he saw the sad look on the mermaid's face. "Have you found your soul mate, Neji?"

Neji nodded hesitantly.

"Is he or she not a very nice person? You seem kind of down."

"My soul mate is a male named Sasuke. I only found him recently, but…" Neji turned his head away, and Shikamaru felt himself burn with fiery rage at the sight of bruise marks on Neji's lovely neck. "He's not very gentle."

"If you're soul mates with someone, do you have to love them?"

Neji nodded wearily. "Yes."

"Do you love Sasuke, Neji?"

"Yes," Neji was shaking his head now. "I don't doubt my feelings for Sasuke. It's just that sometimes, the way he handles me, I'm not sure if he loves me or not."

"That sounds tough," Shikamaru said sympathetically. Unthinkingly, he reached out and held Neji's hand comfortingly. "But, if he's your soul mate, doesn't that mean he has to love you?"

Neji hesitated. "…It may not always be love," he said at last, "but there is at the very least, a strong attraction between the couple. Sasuke is cold and strong, and doesn't convey too much emotion. This is why I think he doesn't love me."

Shikamaru squeezed his hand earnestly. "I'm sure he loves you," he said gently. "How could someone not love you?"

Both men flinched when something splashed in the water close by. "What-" Shikamaru sounded puzzled, and then felt a vague sense of astonishment when another mermaid with spiky black hair and deep black eyes swam over.

"Neji, what are you doing out here?"

"I am talking with an old friend," Neji said coolly. "Shikamaru, this is Sasuke. Sasuke, this is the human named Shikamaru."

Shikamaru nodded in Sasuke's direction. "It's nice to meet you."

Sasuke grunted at him. "Neji, come down soon. It's not safe. How do you know that this man isn't waiting to lure you in to a trap and drag you away from the ocean?"

Neji scoffed. "Shikamaru isn't like that."

Sasuke shrugged eloquently. "If you say so." He flipped his tail and dove beneath the surface.

Neji sighed and turned back to Shikamaru. "See what I mean? He's so cold and distrusting all the time," Neji said despairingly. "And even if I wanted to get away from him, I couldn't because…because…" Suddenly, Neji's face turned pink.

"You're pregnant, aren't you?" Shikamaru had already guessed it when he'd first seen Neji.

Neji nodded quietly. "I'm not very far along."

"Does Sasuke know yet?"

"No."

"If you told him, he might treat you more gently."

Neji shook his head. "When I tell him, it will because I want to raise a family with him, not so that he stops manhandling me so roughly."

"Run away with me."

Neji gasped in shock. "…_What?_"

"Run away with me," Shikamaru repeated. "Mermaids can come on land. If you come with me, you won't have to deal with Sasuke ever again."

"I'll lose everything," Neji said shakily. "You're insane."

"I promise to take care of you," Shikamaru said sincerely. "You'll want for nothing, I swear."

"You're a captain of a merchant ship," Neji said disbelievingly. "You would always be away at sea."

"I would settle down for you."

Neji shook his head. "Don't be rash."

"This is your one chance, Neji. You can take it, or you can leave it and think on how things might have been forever."

Neji looked desperately torn. "I can't just _leave_ him," he said softly. "He's my soul mate."

"How do you know if he's your soul mate?" Shikamaru asked impatiently. "For all you know, it

could just be one-sided love!"

"But what if it isn't?" Neji whispered softly. "I would never have gotten pregnant unless Sasuke was my soul mate, Shikamaru. I can't leave him…I'm sorry."

Shikamaru felt his hands curled up in to fists. "You want to go back to the man who _strangled_ you?"

Neji looked taken aback. "I beg your pardon?"

Shikamaru was barely coherent with rage at Neji's stupidity. How could he want to go back to Sasuke with marks like those on his neck? "Your neck."

Neji hand's flew to his throat, and a red flush fell over his face. "O-oh!" Neji suddenly understood. "Oh, Shikamaru, Sasuke didn't give me these. I know I said that he's a bit rough, but he never deliberately hurts me. These marks are from an attack from an enemy."

Shikamaru grunted. "…I still wish you could come with me."

Neji's face softened. "Shikamaru, I wish I could but…well, I have to find out. I don't want to go with you, and then find myself stranded on land with a child, wondering about what could have been."

Shikamaru sighed. "It was worth a shot."

Neji chuckled sadly. "Oh, Shikamaru-kun." There was a soft pause, and then Neji sighed softly. "So, how has your life on land been for the past twenty years?"

The pair talked all through the night, just as they had done twenty years ago. Finally, the hopeful rays of dawn broke through the dark night sky.

"I should go," Neji murmured. "Sasuke will not be pleased if I remain above the surface of the water for much longer."

"I'm glad we could meet again," Shikamaru said sincerely. He'd been hung up on Neji ever since he'd first laid eyes upon him; however, now that he knew that Neji was out of his grasp forever, perhaps he could find it within himself to move on.

Perhaps.

"I'm glad we could meet again as well, Shikamaru." Neji's eyes glittered in the faint light, and he stretched his hand out towards Shikamaru. Shikamaru took Neji's hand and lifted it to his lips before releasing it.

"May you travel on calm waters, Shikamaru."

"Good luck with Sasuke, Neji. Never doubt that he loves you."

A small smile eclipsed Neji's face. "Thank you."

Shikamaru smiled crookedly at him. "No problem."

"Farewell."

Neji disappeared in to the sapphire depths of the sea, never to be seen by Shikamaru again.

**a/n**: Ugh! I hate the sad ending, but right now I'm just not in a happy mood, and I didn't really forsee a way they could be together as Neji already has his soul mate. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this emotional hash of potatoes, and I'll see y'all next drabble…thanks for reading, and don't forget to review on your way out!


	50. Note shikaneji

**a/n**: Alright…I know that **No Name** wanted a shikaneji drabble where they ended up together, but I haven't been feeling very coupley lately…hopefully, I'll be able to fulfill your request sometime. This is just an evil little plot bunny that jumped in to my head…enjoy!

Drabble 049: Note, Shikaneji

Neji groaned and dropped his schoolbag on the bench.

Everyone stared.

"What's the matter?" Nej snarled.

"…Well, someone's in an awful mood," Sasuke said delicately. "This doesn't have to do with a certain someone, does it?"

Neji snorted. "Pfft! As if you'd want to hear about it!"

"I don't have a problem with you liking Shikamaru, Neji," Sasuke said patiently.

"Which just goes to show how sick and twisted you are!" Neji's hands balled in to fists.

Sasuke sighed. "Neji-"

"Just shut up, Sasuke, I don't want to hear it!" Neji plopped down on the bench with a loud huff, his entire body facing away from his boyfriend.

Naruto chose that moment to make his entrance. "Are you two having a lover's tiff?"

"We aren't lovers," Neji said crossly.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Are you guys having a tiff then?"

"No," Sasuke decided to intervene. The last time that he and Neji had had an argument, Naruto had decided that he would be their 'couples counselor'. Needless to say, Naruto had barely escaped with his life.

"You _are_," Naruto sing-songed. "Come on, tell me about it."

"Go to hell."

"Ouch!" Naruto sniffled, and pretended to be hurt. "Neji, your boyfriend is so mean!"

Neji sniffed, but remained otherwise silent. Awkward silence reigned over the table until the end of lunch.

XXX

The next day, Neji hummed cheerfully and sat down beside Sasuke with a bright smile on his face. Yet again, everyone stared.

"Someone's in a good mood today," Sakura stared at Neji. "What happened? Yesterday, you were set to kill someone."

"Oh nothing." Neji smiled and kissed Sasuke's cheek before unpacking his lunch. "Today is such a nice day, isn't it?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the overcast sky. "…If you say so."

Sasuke looked over his shoulder at Shikamaru, who was standing in line to buy his lunch. To his surprise, Shikamaru looked incredibly flustered.

He patted Neji's hand. "Alright, what did you do to him?"

Neji feigned innocence. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play coy with me," Sasuke nudged Neji's side. "Come on, spill it! He looks like he's expecting someone to ambush him from behind."

Neji smirked. "I slipped an anonymous note in his locker."

"And?"

An evil smirk crept on to Neji's face. "He's expecting a rabid fan girl to attack him any moment now."

Sasuke chuckled. "Is this your vengeance for whatever happened yesterday?"

"Oh, Sasuke…you know me all too well."

**a/n**: I'm doing this to screw my friend over right now. It's hilarious to mess with him, but I'll have to put a stop to it soon…hm…*sighs* Oh well. Anyways, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review on your way out!


	51. Fear kankuroneji

**a/n: **Hey everyone! I'm really really really really really sorry for not updating for a very long time! I recently had my high school exams, and was studying like hell for them, and hence neglected my stories. I apologize to all of you darling readers! *bows*

Anyways, this probably won't do very much to satisfy your annoyance (it certainly hasn't done much to satisfy mine) but I was stuck on this idea for a long time, and decided that I should just end it as soon as I could. Warnings: mild violence. Enjoy!

Drabble 050: Fear kankuro/Neji

Neji yelped as someone shoved him in to a wall, and continued running past him. "What…?"

Neji yelped again as the building's security force thundered through the hall, flinging him against the wall once more. Finally, once the melee had passed him, he turned around and headed back to his coworkers on the fifth floor.

Neji stepped out of the elevator looking as clean and polished as usual, despite having been flung in to a wall twice. "What's going on downstairs?"

Ten-Ten looked up from her desk. Neji raised an eyebrow when he saw that she'd been chewing the end of her pen; a habit that only came out when Ten-Ten was extremely nervous. "There was a man with a gun who tried to shoot the boss."

Neji stared at her. "Are you serious? Is the boss ok?"

Kiba's head poked over the top of his desk. "Well, we all know why you care so much about the boss," he said snidely.

"Shut up, Kiba. Ten-Ten, _please_," Neji pleaded.

"Mr. Subaku is just fine."

"Who was the shooter?" Neji sighed as he set his bag back on his desk; he'd been planning to go out for lunch, but it was starting to look like he should just stay at the office.

"We don't know. I've been glued to the office chat, but no one knows who the shooter is."

"Well…at least Mr. Subaku is alright, I suppose."

"And there he goes again…" Kiba muttered.

"Shut _up_, Kiba!" Neji said in exasperation.

XXX

Neji headed upstairs to the top floor of the company building to go see the head of the company, Subaku Kankuro. "Kiba's just jealous," he muttered under his breath. Lately, the dog boy had been getting more and more on his case about his relationship with Mr. Subaku.

"Mr. Subaku?" Neji entered the office.

"Hey, Neji. Give me a moment." Kankuro was sitting at his desk, busily scribbling his signature on to a document.

"Sure." Neji felt his shoulders relaxed, and he took a deep breath; it was times like these where titles such as 'superior' and 'executive' fell away, and the two could simply spend time together as friends.

"Alright, all done. Let's go to dinner."

"What?" Neji stared at him in surprise. He'd thought that Kankurou had wanted him to come pick up paperwork, not go out for a meal.

"I said, let's go to dinner," Kankuro repeated himself. "Geeze, Neji…you're so out of it, today."

"No, no…I just wasn't expecting that at all," Neji said calmly. "Um…I'm not really dressed to go out to eat." He looked down at himself—he was dressed in proper work attire, but he doubted that it fit the bill to go eat at one of the high-end restaurants that Kankuro so preferred.

Kankuro chuckled. "Don't worry, I wasn't planning on anything extravagant."

"Alright," Neji acquiesced. "Then let's go."

"Someone's eager."

"Eager to spend your money," Neji said with a wicked smile. "I'm also starving, so hurry up."

"Alright, alright."

The two exited the building laughing; neither man noticed that dark figure watching them from across the street.

XXX

"I'm surprised. You really didn't pick some over-extravagant place," Neji observed. They were currently seated in a chic seafood place that retained a certain sense of class, but wasn't as fancy as other restaurants.

"I didn't want to put you out of your element."

"Thanks." Neji smiled over at Kankuro.

"No problem."

The moment was broken by a loud BANG that shattered all thoughts from Neji's mind as he stared across the table at Kankuro, who was sporting a bleeding hole in his arm.

A few seconds later, and Neji's mind caught up with the situation. "HELP!" he screamed. He whipped out his phone and dialed 911.

Restaurant staff rushed over and began to hover around once they'd noticed that Neji had dialed 911. Someone leaned over and applied pressure to Kankuro's wound in an attempt to staunch the blood flow.

Neji got to his feet and looked around wildly; his heart nearly stopped when he saw a short man with fiery red hair and a gun in his hand running across the street.

"Gaara…?"

XXX

The next day, Neji swung by the hospital after work and headed up to visit Kankuro. Kankuro hadn't received any other injuries besides the wound in his arm, and was expected to make a good recovery.

Neji slipped in to the seat beside Kankuro's hospital bed and smiled at his friend's peaceful expression. "Kankuro," he whispered softly.

Kankuro stirred, and then woke up. "Neji?"

"Hey."

"Hey."

"…the shooter was your little brother."

"_What_?"

"I saw him running away with a gun in his hand."

"Did you tell the police?"

"Of course. They're searching for him even as we speak." The two sat in silence for a few moments before Neji broke it again. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I can't help but think that this is my fault."

"It's not your fault, Neji. Gaara is obsessed."

"But…if he hadn't seen us together, this wouldn't have happened."

Kankurou shook his head. "Neji, don't think that way."

"How can I not?" Neji fidgeted in distress.

Kankuro smiled and shook his head. "Love, don't worry."

"You could've _died._"

"The police will catch Gaara. He can't keep running forever."

"I hope so." Neji reached over and squeezed Kankuro's hand.

XXX

The following week, Neji and Kankuro were on their toes waiting for news about Gaara. Eventually, the police came in, and informed them that, while Gaara was still at large, he definitely wasn't in the city. They would do their best to protect the couple, but they were presumably safe until Gaara returned.

Neji was pale and quiet while Kankuro thanked the officers for their hard work before gently ushering them out the door.

"What will we do?"

"What do you think? We'll continue with our lives. We have to show the bastard that we won't live in the shadow of our fear of him for the rest of our lives."

Neji's mouth twisted slightly. "How can we not though?"

"We can do it by staying together." Kankuro squeezed Neji's small hands in his. "We'll get through this."

Neji swallowed hard, and squeezed back. "…Of course we will."

**a/n:** So…crappy ending. I apologize, but I'm really sick of this plot bunny now, and I might come back and re-write it later, but for now this is where I shall leave it. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed…thanks for reading, and don't forget to review on your way out! (I also posted an old itaneji piece called 'One Thing' that you guys should check out ;).)

Oh…and….HAPPY FIFTIETH DRABBLE GUYS! *wipes sweat off forehead* We'll see how much longer this goes.


	52. Date? itaneji

**a/n:** So…this drabble is based on two of my friends who've started 'dating' recently. Awkward starts are always lovely . Anyways, this is a cute little drabble/one-shot thingy, so I hope you enjoy! I also wanted to apologize—somehow my numbers got off, and I thought that the last drabble was the fiftieth one, but it wasn't…so yeah. Lolz. Anyways, no warnings, disclaimer on my profile, and onwards to the story!

Drabble 052: Date? Itaneji.

"Hey, you want to hang out sometime?"

"Sure," Itachi replied mechanically. "Where do you want to go?"

"We could head out to the tea shop on fifth street," Neji suggested. "They have some really nice cold tea."

"Sounds good." Itachi smiled at him. "Does Sunday at one o'clock work for you?"

"I think so."

"Then I'll see you Sunday. Have a nice weekend, Neji."

"You too." Neji smiled cheerfully at him before strolling off to the bike racks at the front of the school while instead, Itachi headed for the parking lot.

Later that evening, Itachi was reading a book on his bed when a knock sounded on the door.

"Come in!"

Sasuke poked his head in to the room. "Are you busy on Sunday, Itachi?"

Itachi looked up in surprise. "A little bit. Why?"

"I'm supposed to meet up with my friends for a science project at the main library at one. Can you drive me?"

Itachi shook his head. "Sorry, I can't Sasuke."

"Why not?"

"I'm hanging out with Neji." Itachi raised an eyebrow when a look of interest flitted over Sasuke's face.

"So is it a date?"

"Sorry, _what_?"

"Are you guys going on a date?"

Itachi looked at his little brother with a guarded expression. "…If we were, why would it matter to you?"

Sasuke chuckled. "It wouldn't. It really wouldn't." He supposed that Itachi was unaware of the fact that he and Neji had dated on and off for about year before deciding to simply stay friends. "Just thought you might want to think about that though." He left the room humming cheerfully; if Neji thought that he would be happier with Itachi, then so be it. He had no doubt that Itachi would, at the very least, be a good boyfriend to Neji.

Meanwhile, Itachi flopped back and stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom. "A date?" he asked the empty room. "Was that really what Neji meant?"

XXX

Sunday came, and Itachi had a lot of fun 'hanging out' with Neji. They went for tea, and then ended up walking around and talking in a park not far from the street. However, Itachi couldn't keep the mild suspicion that Neji had asked on a date out of the back of his mind, and he went home feeling thoroughly confused about the whole thing.

Unsurprisingly, Sasuke confronted him immediately after he got home. "So, how was it?"

"How was what?" Itachi had a small smile on his face as he slipped out of his Converse and made his way towards the living room.

"Your date with Neji?"

"I don't know if it was exactly a _date_, Sasuke. Why do you care so much anyways?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I can't be worried about my older brother every once in a while?"

Itachi plopped down on the sofa and shot him a look. "Are you sure its me you're worried about?"

"Positive." Sasuke smirked at him before settling down on the arm of the sofa. "So, how was it?"

"You're really not going to stop pestering me, are you?"

"Nope." Sasuke stared at Itachi expectantly.

"It was fun." Itachi shrugged. "We bought tea and just hung out for a couple of hours. End of story."

"You're no fun," Sasuke complained. "Is that really all you have to say?"

"Yes," Itachi said firmly. "Don't you have anything better to do, foolish little brother?"

Sasuke sighed and got up. "Alright, alright, no need to get pushy now," he muttered. "And…just so you know, Itachi, when guys invite each other to 'hang out', they don't usually go buy tea and then wander around pictaresque parks for three hours."

"Maybe you don't, Sasuke. It's not that unusual."

"I'm just saying!" Sasuke snapped in irritation. "Is it impossible for you to consider that Neji might have feelings for you that extend beyond friendship?"

Itachi surveyed his brother curiously. "It's not that I haven't considered that idea, I just don't think that the time I spent with him today quantifies as a date. I really don't understand why you're so worked up about this."

Sasuke sighed, and stormed upstairs in a huff leaving Itachi staring after him in bemusement. Itachi thought about what Sasuke had just said when it suddenly hit him.

"Sasuke?" Itachi called out to him as he started up the stairs. He thanked the gods that his parents weren't home at the moment so that he could confront his little brother.

"What?"

"How did you know that we went to a park?"

"Uh…" Sasuke stared at him for a moment before his gaze flicked to his phone on the desk, and then back to Itachi's face.

"Don't tell me…you didn't ask Neji about it?" Itachi's eyes narrowed in annoyance; couldn't Sasuke when to learn to leave his nose in his own business?

"Actually, I didn't." An amused glint shone in Sasuke's eyes. "Neji was freaking out about it after you left, and told me all about it."

Itachi sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "So basically, what you're trying to say is that you've been delicately trying to tell me that Neji likes me? As more than a friend?"

"Pretty much."

"…Subtlety really isn't your style."

"Or maybe you're just especially thick," Sasuke retorted. His voice softened with his next statement. "Just…be nice to him, ok Itachi? He deserves someone amazing, and I know the feeling is mutual between the two of you."

"And I'm not amazing?" Itachi joked.

The corner of Sasuke's mouth twitched. "You know that's not what I meant."

"I'll do my best Sasuke," Itachi promised him. "Now, give me your phone. I want to see what he thought."

"Wha—no! Itachi!" Both brothers lunged for the phone at the same time.

XXX

The following Friday, Neji and Itachi found themselves alone again, the rest of their friends having headed off to the varsity football game.

"Hey, are you busy tomorrow?"

Neji looked over at Itachi in surprise. "Not really, no. Why?"

"Want to hang out again?"

Neji stared for a moment before a small flutter of warmth started working its way up through his heart. "…Sure."

"Did you bike to school today?"

"No, I had to walk. I biked over a nail on my way home yesterday," Neji shook his head regretfully.

"We live close by. I'll give you a ride home."

Neji instinctively slipped his hand in to Itachi's, and they both held on tight, neither one wanting to let go.

**a/n**: Aw, wasn't that cute? Itachi is so dumb sometimes ahahaha! Anyways, thanks for reading, I hope you all enjoyed…don't forget to review on your way out!

I also posted a new itaneji story (it's actually an old work that I happened to find on my computer, so the writing style is a bit different) called 'One Thing' that you guys should check out if you want some itaneji fluff. Thanks for reading, and thanks for all your support!


	53. Le Cygne Hakuneji

**a/n:** Hey everyone! I apologize about the wait—there have been a lot of computer snafus at my house since my sister just returned from college. But anyways, here's a short little piece with our two Naruto bishies ;) I'm finding myself really liking this couple, but I can't say why.

Anyways, I'm not sure how good of a classical music education all of you have, but you should definitely look this piece up on youtube—it's gorgeous. One of my classmates also recently performed this solo at a big hall, and so this is a shout out to her. Her solo was really beautiful and amazing!

Warnings: None, disclaimer on my profile…enjoy!

Drabble 053: Le Cygne Hakuneji.

Neji shifted nervously and surreptitiously wiped his palms on the edge of his tuxedo while someone stepped up to the microphone and began reading a little ditty about the nobility of the swan. His stand partner, Haku, picked up his stand and courteously turned it towards the audience. Neji stiffly rotated in his chair and tried to relax the muscles in his back. He could do this—he'd practiced the solo a thousand times. Haku patted his shoulder, and then sat back down again.

Neji felt butterflies rising in his stomach as the narrator drew towards the end of the poem. His school symphony had been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York; his conductor had chosen to play the piece The Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saens. Of course, what was Carnival of the Animals without the most famous cello solo in the world, Le Cygne (the swan)? So, Neji, being the principal cellist of the symphony, was starring as a soloist in Carnegie Hall. He swallowed hard, and tried to take deep breaths through his nose as the piano accompaniment rippled across the auditorium.

He lifted his bow to the strings, and closed his eyes. Suddenly, he was gone. There was no longer a crowd of stern faces judging him in their seats; instead, he was alone at a small pond at the zoo. A white swan glided elegantly across the surface of the water as Neji sat spellbound at the pool's edge.

His bow began to move across the strings, and the entire hall was transfixed. When the piece ended, Neji opened his eyes, and was startled to see that many of the audience members had tears in their eyes, and he became embarrassed as he realized that tears were running down his face as well. The hall exploded in to thunderous applause, and Haku moved to pick up the stand again while Neji scrubbed his face, stood up, and smiled his best smile.

After the performance, the entire symphony dogpiled him (after he'd put his cello away, of course).

"You were fucking _awesome!_" His conductor shouted. "That was the best it's ever been—congratulations Neji!"

Neji grinned, and hugged his conductor as hard as he could.

Later, he and Haku found a quiet corner backstage. Haku immediately gave a warm congratulatory kiss. "You were amazing."

"Thanks." Neji wound his arms around Haku's neck and sighed softly. The solo had put him on an emotional roller coaster, and he was exhausted.

"Well done," Haku whispered in his ear. "I'm so proud of you, Neji."

Neji nodded tiredly against Haku's neck.

"Were you thinking about your father when you were playing?"

"How'd you guess?"

"You cried," Haku said simply. "You only cry when you think about your father."

Neji smiled blearily. "I was thinking…once a long time ago, I had this dream. I was in a park, sitting att he edge of a small pond. Then, an eneormous white swan comes out of nowhere, and starts swimming across the surface of the pond; by the end of the dream, I realize that the swan is my father. That's what I think about every time I play Le Cygne."

Haku smiled. "He would be proud of you."

"You think so?'

"We'll undoubtedly find rave reviews in every New York paper with an arts section tomorrow."

Neji blushed. "It wasn't that good."

"It was amazing, honey."

Both boys flinched when they heard their conductor shout "Alright kids—everyone line up over here!"

Haku sighed regretfully as he slid his hands down to rest on Neji's hips. "He sure does know how to ruin a moment."

Neji avoided Haku's piercing gaze. "We should go."

"Alright."

The two boys walked hand in hand out to the orchestra. Haaku eyed his lover appraisingly while Neji slept in the audience. Now, thanks to the piece, he had a deeper understanding of Neji than ever before.

**a/n:** Daw, wasn't that cute? It's amazing how much music touches our lives and deepens the bonds between us. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review on your way out!

Also, I've just published a new itaneji story based on Rapunzel, so you should check that out on my profile!


	54. Apples to Apples

**a/n:** Hey guys! This is just a short little ditty with no real pairings. I hope you all know how to play the game "Apples to Apples", because if you don't, then it might be a bit difficult to understand this drabble. No warnings, disclaimer on my profile…enjoy!

Drabble 054: Apples to Apples

It was a fairly normal sleepover. Naruto had made an effort to shove his junk under his couch, and then invited all of his friends over. Things had progressed smoothly…until Itachi unearthed his box of Apples to Apples. Then, the real fun had begun.

Neji delicately turned over a green card from the pile. "Scary."

Everyone instantly vanished behind their red cards, and glanced at each other as they scooted their choices over to Neji. What scared Neji? Other than spiders, not much.

Finally, everyone had cast in their cards. Neji picked up the stack and began reading them off.

"Cockroaches…no. Oprah Winfrey…uh, maybe? Lizards, no, unicorns…" Neji looked up from the cards in exasperation. "What kind of a person do you think I am? Unicorns? Come on!"

"Unicorns scare Tobi!" Tobi chirped.

Neji rolled his eyes and moved on. Finally, he reached the last card. Everyone watched in fascination as Neji's eyebrow shot up.

Then he flipped the card over, and showed it to his friends. "This is definitely the winner."

Pein smirked and raised his hand. "That's me." He winked confidentially at Neji. "It's a mutual problem."

"What is?" Itachi came back from the kitchen, and pulled Neji in to his lap. Neji smiled and leaned up to kiss his cheek before showing him the card.

_Fan girls._

**a/n:** So yeah…no real pairing (besides the itaneji). Just a cute little idea that popped in to my head…thanks for reading, and don't forget to review on your way out!


	55. Rebuff sasunejihidan

**a/n:** Hey everyone! This is another fun little idea that popped in to my head…no warnings, disclaimer on my profile…enjoy!

Drabble 055: Rebuff, Hidan/Neji/Sasuke

Neji's fingers flew across the screen of his phone. _Hey, Sasuke. Want to go hang out at the art center tomorrow? They're putting on 'Chess'._

It only took thirty seconds to reply. _Sure. What time does it start?_

_7:30._

_Want to grab dinner beforehand?_

_Sorry, I'm busy until right before then. _

_Oh well. See you at 7:30._

_See you._

Neji sighed and locked his phone; hopefully, Sasuke wasn't taking things the wrong way. He twisted over and smiled at Hidan. "Sasuke said 'sure'."

"Does he know he's chaperoning us for your uncle?"

"Does he need to know?" Neji raised an eyebrow. His uncle's condition was that, any time he wanted to go out with his boyfriend, someone else needed to go with them. Most of Neji's friends were happy to oblige, so he never had any problems with his uncle.

Unfortunately, Hidan wasn't so sure about Neji's plans. "Well…I'm not everyone knows we're dating, and I feel like Sasuke's had his eye on you for a while. He might want to know about something like that."

Neji waved his hand dismissively. "I don't think you're right about Sasuke. It'll be fine!"

Hidan eyed his boyfriend warily before shaking his head. "Whatever you say, Neji."

XXX

The following evening, Neji and Hidan waited patiently in front of the art center for Sasuke to show up. When he did, an odd expression settled on his face.

"I didn't know that we were having company."

"Is that a problem?" Neji raised an eyebrow, and cast a glance over at Hidan. _Maybe Hidan was right yesterday…_

"No, not at all! I was just surprised." Sasuke smiled innocently at the pair before leading them inside to the performance. However, Hidan couldn't help but feel that something was brewing behind that pair of black eyes.

During intermission, Hidan told the pair that he had to run outside and make a phonecall, leaving them by themselves.

"So how do you like the musical so far?" Neji asked anxiously. "You're not too bored, I hope?"

"No, it's great!" Sasuke assured him. "I'm really enjoying it so far."

"Oh good," Neji smiled, relieved.

"Neji…"

"Yes?" Neji looked at Sasuke curiously. Then, he started and tried to pull away when Sasuke roughly grabbed his arm and pulled him in to his chest. "Sasuke, let go-"

He was cut off by a pair of hungry lips crashing in to his. He tried, unsuccessfully, to push Sasuke off him, and starting panicking when he felt Sasuke's hands slide down to his hips. Luckily, Hidan swooped in to save the day.

"What are you _doing_?!" his boyfriend shrieked. He plucked Neji out of Sasuke's grasp, and Neji immediately molded himself in to Hidan's side. He clung to his boyfriend's arm, staring at Sasuke with wide, frightened eyes.

"What did it _look_ like we were doing?" Sasuke snapped, annoyed that Hidan had interrupted them.

"It _looked_ like you were forcing yourself on to my boyfriend," Hidan hissed. "Kindly keep your hands to yourself!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

Neji cleared his throat, and tried to speak in a voice that disguised the fact that he was on the verge of tears. "I think it's best if you leave."

"…Fine." Sasuke turned around and walked out of the art center. That certainly hadn't been the gentlest rebuff he'd ever received from a love interest.

**a/n:** Chess is a very fun musical to watch, so if you've never heard of it you should go look it up! I felt sort of bad for Hidan while I was writing this…he seems to be the one cleaning up after Neji's obliviousness a lot in their relationship for this drabble. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review on your way out!

Also, there's a new poll on my profile, and I tried writing a sonnet…so if you enjoy my drabbles, please go ahead and check these out!


	56. Morning Run shikaneji

**a/n:** Hello everyone! I'm very pleased to announce that I'm coming off my short hiatus period. It was difficult for me to write anything during the time leading up to my final exams, and then I had a two-week recovery phase where I rewired my brain back in to writing mode. Anyways, this is totally random shikaneji fluff…disclaimer on my profile, no warnings (except for total complete randomness)…enjoy!

Drabble 056: Morning Run, shikaneji.

Neji beamed at Shikamaru when he rounded the corner of the park. "You're on time today."

"Can you blame me for not wanting to wake up at 5:30 in the morning so I can meet you here every day?" Shikamaru grumbled. Nevertheless, he gave his boyfriend a hug. "Come on, let's get going while it's still cool out."

"It won't get warm until about 10:00," Neji said patiently.

Shikamaru glanced over at Neji in amusement. "You never know…you might just want to go out for a really long run."

"Four and a half hours?" Neji laughed as they started to jog down the street. "I doubt it."

Shikamaru chuckled. "This is coming from the idiot that trained six hours a day with his uncle."

"That was when I was an angsting preteen," Neji said, his face flushing in embarrassment. "And even then, I wouldn't have run for four and half hours. That's more Lee's type of training."

"Oh lord," Shikamaru groaned. "I can just see it now… 'Gai-sensei, I have failed you! I will run for four and half hours to prove my youthfulness to the world!'" he said mockingly.

Both boys flinched when an energetic figure in a green jumpsuit appeared alongside them. "Is that your youthful voice I hear, Shikamaru?"

"No," Shikamaru said sarcastically, "It's that bush that we passed five minutes ago."

Lee blinked in confusion.

Neji sighed and rushed to clarify. "He was kidding, Lee. What are you doing up so early?"

"The same thing as you…going for a morning run!"

"How long have you been running for?"

"Long enough to get warmed up," Lee grinned devilishly and took off in to the darkness. "See you later, my youthful rival!"

Shikamaru and Neji returned to comfortable silence, neither one willing to chase after Lee. They jogged around their neighborhood for another half hour before returning to Shikamaru's apartment where they washed off the sweat and grime from their run.

Neji coughed in amusement when he found Shikamaru spread out across the large windowseat in his living room. "The point of getting up early is staying up."

Shikamaru grunted and shifted slightly, inviting Neji to lie down with him. Neji complied, sighing in mock exasperation which quickly melted away in to a tender smile. "I love you," he whispered in Shikamaru's ear.

Shikamaru squeezed his hand, and the young couple drifted off to sleep while the sun began to rise, lighting up their happy faces in joy.

**a/n: ** Yay for totally random fluff! I hope you enjoyed; also I've started posting a new work called 'The Moon and the Stars', so if you're a fan of itaneji, please stop by and check it out! Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review on your way out also, if you have time, please vote on the poll on my profile.


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